The Colour Purple
by Darien Fawkes
Summary: The Rangers head to New Zealand in pursuit of Fury, who is himself searching for something. In the process they will encounter the elusive Purple Ranger.
1. Chapter 1

**Legal:** I do not own the rights to Power Rangers, or the associated names, characters, places, events etc. Anything not covered by the above rights should be considered purely the creation of the author.

 **Rating:** T – May be some adult language and themes, including violence.

Mr Watkins came to the door of his daughter's room, finding her inside, going through her wardrobe and her chest of drawers, pulling things out and packing them in a hurry. He still didn't know what was going on; it was only sheer chance that he had been at home at all. He had been due to meet with a supplier for a round of golf, but the local course had been closed for the day when he arrived. A security measure because the mayor was meeting with that Prince from the country whose name he could never remember. He read newspapers; he knew that the Prince had come to the city to become an ambassador...what a joke. An ambassador to a country that was so small...he was sure there were cities larger than his whole country.

It was inconvenient that he'd had to hastily call his client to reschedule. He had been a Platinum Member of that club for the last twelve years. He didn't really care much for the game. Sure, it wasn't the worst way to spend a nice summer's day, walking around in the sun, pretending if he even cared what his score card said. As long as his score was worse than his client's all he cared about was impressing them with the amenities in the Executive Lounge after a little while on the course.

A nice stroll around the greens followed by a nice lunch and a couple of drinks had netted him quite a few favourable deals with his business partners over the years. He had been talking up the day to Mr Bishop, the owner of a plantation in the Southwest for weeks now; aiming to talk him into a deal for some fresh fruits that by reputation would be perfect for his luxury line. Now though, he'd had to call and tell him that he would need to meet him tomorrow instead, and that his journey had been wasted. Mr Bishop was not a patient man, and he had a feeling that this delay was only going to hamper his eventual deal. He was still seething that he had to re-schedule a meeting that potentially could cost him thousands...or possibly even the contract altogether. Mr Watkins was nothing if not a cautious man and knew that he'd just end up doing something at the office, unleashing his frustration where it didn't belong, and so he opted to take some papers home to work on there.

He was surprised to say the least when Shelby had burst in, saying something about a trip. He knew that she sometimes had to do some pretty unusual things with the museum now that apparently Ms Morgan had her on a dig team. As soon as they heard reports of a finding, sometimes they had to move quickly. It still mystified him how Anton Mercer could run a business with a staff that kept running off at a moment's notice. It wasn't a business model that worked normally. He preferred reliability. Suppliers he knew would deliver on time, customers he knew would pay promptly when he sent them invoices, and employees that would turn up for shift when they were meant to. It was yet another reason he was so put out by the delay in his meeting. It made him look unreliable, and if there was one thing he prized above anything else, it was reliability.

Shelby was tearing her room apart, throwing clothes into a bag. Mr Watkins was a little surprised that she had her suitcase, not an overnight bag.

"Shelby?" He asked. "How long are you going for?"

"I don't know." He told him. "I just know I have to get to the museum quickly. Have you seen my passport?"

"Passport?" He asked, looking a little startled. It was one thing when she was running around town, and it was quite another to know that she was going out of town. He presumed it would be a short trip upstate or something, a couple of days at most. Now she was crossing the border? "What do you need your passport for?"

"Do you know where it is?" She asked again. Mr Watkins just sighed and went into her desk drawer, pulling out her passport. She took it off him, while throwing a book into her backpack. She was now taking two bags?

"Shelby, I know we agreed that you didn't have to go to business school while you pursued this archaeology..."

"Palaeontology." She corrected him. He just shook his head.

"Fine, Palaeontology thing." Mr Watkins continued. "I've been patient with all this. It's taken you almost a year to even start getting courses, which it seems you barely have any time to do, you're getting a couple of tours a week and a dig once in a blue moon...now you're expected to drop everything and go to Mexico?"

"Dad, I am not having this argument again!" She groaned as she put her passport away and started to zip up her bags. "This is what I want to do..."

"And when are we likely to see a degree?" He asked. "Have you even spoken to Ms Morgan about that?"

"Dad, I keep telling you, she's already giving me course work and experience that will be invaluable." She told him, hefting her bag onto her shoulder. "Besides, who said I was going to Mexico?"

"You're not going to Mexico?" He asked. "When you asked for your passport, I presumed you were going across the border..."

"You could say that I guess." She responded, quickly putting her backpack on and grabbing her case. She was eager to get out of the house quickly. She was expecting her dad to be out, and was hoping to just leave a note. She checked her watch. "I need to get back to the museum."

"If you're not going to Mexico, then where are you going?" He asked as Shelby headed down the stairs and out the door.

"New Zealand!" She called back. "I left the number of the hotel on the table!"

"NEW ZEALAND?" He called out, rushing after her. "Shelby come back here! We need to talk about this!"

"Sorry dad, I have to go!" She called out, throwing her bags into the back of Tyler's jeep. "I'll call when I get there! Gun it Tyler!"

"Shelby!" Mr Watkins called after her. "Get back here...NEW ZEALAND?"

As they pulled away, Tyler just looked to her.

"So...you told him?" He asked. She just sighed.

"Some of us still live with our parents." She reminded him. Tyler just chuckled in response. "He wanted to know why I needed my passport!"

"Why did you need your passport?" Tyler asked her.

"We're going to New Zealand?" She reminded him sarcastically.

"We're taking the Pterazord?" He reminded her in response. "We're not exactly going through security."

Shelby paused as she realised he was right, before smacking her forehead to the dashboard.

"Why didn't I think of that?" She asked.

Over in New Zealand, a man wandered the streets, an earpiece in his ear connected to the radio in his pocket. He wasn't listening to just any station; he was once again tuned into the police frequency, hoping to hear news of anyone in the area that required his help.

The Violet Avenger, as the media had come to know him in the area, had become a lot more cautious as of late. Ever since he had found that mysterious purple crystal and been granted its power, he had been using that power to help people. He had broken up a number of crimes, rescued a few people from accidents and fires...but recently, he had been pursued by monsters. Not metaphorical monsters, like criminals whose businesses had been affected by his meddling, but ACTUAL monsters!

He was sure it had to have something to do with the UFOs that had been spotted in the area. There was no way those that pursued him were from this Earth. Recently, he had been pursued by bizarre creatures whenever he used his powers to help others. He had come to the conclusion that they were after his crystal, but the one thing he did know was that they were willing to do anything to get their hands on it. Given the power the crystal bestowed upon him, and the destruction they had wrought on the city already, he knew he couldn't just give it to them.

It had occurred to him to simply throw the crystal into the ocean rather than let them get their hands on it, but some unseen force compelled him to keep it. Some great power he didn't understand wanted him to have this power, to use it to help others. However, now he had the very real issue that he had to be careful how and when he used it. The monsters had shown up a couple of times when he was responding to calls, forcing him to flee for the safety of others.

"There's a fire at the apartment on the corner of Kaplan and Marchand." The announcement came across his police scanner. He was nearby. Looking up, he could already see the lightest whisps of smoke rising into the air. He ran into an alley, pulling out his crystal, and changed, hoping that he would be able to help out before the monsters showed up again.

Back in the US, Chase, Riley and Koda were waiting. Ivan had gone inside with Kendall to get some equipment to help them on their journey. Koda just looked to Chase.

"Why we need hotel?" Koda asked him. "Why we not stay at your mother's place?"

"We're going to Auckland, which is on the North Island." Chase explained. "My mum lives on the South Islands."

"But Kendall say New Zealand is small country." Koda responded.

"Compared to the US it is a small country, but it is still pretty big." Chase told him.

"So...Chase not get to see family?" Koda asked. Chase just shook his head.

"Not on this visit I'm afraid." He responded with a little sigh as Ivan and Kendall came out. "So, are we ready to go?"

"I've upgraded the guidance system for the Ptera Zord." Kendall told them, handing Riley a device. "Once you hook this up to the Ptera Zord's navigations system, it should highlight any alien bio signs in the city. It'll relay all the relevant information to the main computers in the lab."

"Your assistance is most appreciated my good lady." Ivan responded. "Now, perhaps we should be on our way."

"I guess the one advantage is that the Ptera Zord flies a lot faster than commercial airlines." Shelby said as they headed somewhere out of sight they could morph. All of a sudden, Ms Morgan's cell phone started ringing.

"Uh...Shelby...this is your number." Ms Morgan said as the Rangers started to leave. Shelby sucked her teeth.

"Yeah, about that...I might have told my dad we were heading to New Zealand." She responded.

"You did WHAT?" Kendall yelled.

"Sorry Ms. Morgan, got to go!" Shelby rushed out as they headed out of sight. Kendall could only watch as the Ptera Zord flew overhead and the team leapt into it. Kendall just shook her head as she answered the phone.

"Hello...Mr Watkins, this is a pleasant surprise..." She said, before pulling the phone away from her ear as he started to yell. "Thanks Shelby. Thanks a lot."

Back in New Zealand, Wrench was in an old theatre that they had found to use as a hideout while they tracked down the Purple Ranger. They had come in search of the Purple Energem, only to find that it was already bonded to another human. They had, since then, been trying to get a hold of this human in order to bring the Purple Energem back to Sledge.

It was a bit of a surprise to find out it had already become bonded to someone. However, they weren't disheartened, it didn't take long after they found the Purple Ranger to realise he was nothing like the Rangers they were used to. Originally, they had believed that it would be a simple task. When they first encountered him, he had fought with barely any ability whatsoever. He had run off almost as soon as he'd seen them. Without any other Rangers around for him to learn from, it seemed that he had little to no idea what he was doing. They were sure they would be able to bring him down easily.

Unfortunately, it had proven more difficult than they expected. He was not a fighter, the way the other Rangers were, but it seemed he knew that. He was, however, irritatingly slippery and evasive. He was able to outrun them, and the few times they had encountered him, he had seemed to disappear without a trace. It was frustrating in the least, and it seemed that Sledge was becoming more than a little impatient with them.

Wrench was busy working on his newest invention, a way that he was confident he would be able to gain all the help they would ever need. He had already asked Sledge for another monster to assist them, and had to listen to his rant about how many resources they needed to expend on a single Ranger who didn't even seem to be capable of fighting back. He knew better than to press his luck too much. If he couldn't ask for reinforcements from Sledge, then he would just have to make them himself.

"You know, for someone who calls himself Meteor, you took your time coming down here." Wrench stated as the new monster came into the room, carrying a couple of metallic cylinders about the size of a thermos. The monster just looked to him.

"Sledge only just released me." Meteor complained. "I'm hungry! Sledge never fed me before sending me down here. Is there anything to eat down here?"

"Never mind that, did you bring what I asked for?" Wrench asked him. Meteor just handed over the metal cylinders.

"I don't know what you want those for." Meteor told him. "And if you ask me, it's kind of gross you kept that around."

"A good scientist never throws anything away. You never know WHEN it can be useful." Wrench stated sagely, opening one of the cylinders and looking inside. "Besides, who asked you anyway?"

"But you're talking about...don't you think this is all a little...morbid?" He said with a shudder. Wrench just shook his head in disbelief.

"You know for a terrorist who carpet-bombed heavily-populated cities with meteorites, you're awfully squeamish." Wrench responded. Meteor just turned way.

"I just made corpses." He muttered. "I didn't spend my time playing with the leftovers."

"There's some food just through there, in the old concession stand." Wrench said, waving him off dismissively. "Go help yourself."

As Meteor went to find himself something edible among the treats that had been left behind when the theatre had closed up, Wrench just put the sealed cylinder aside, and inspected the contents of the other thoughtfully.

"If this works, this could be my greatest creation." He mused, loading it into the machine. "Besides, what's the worst that can happen? It's not like I can make him more dead."

Meanwhile, back on the streets of Auckland, the fire service were busy trying to put out the blaze in an apartment block, while some of their crew were bringing the residents out. The flames had engulfed the building quickly, and the crew were struggling to keep the flames under control and prevent them spreading to the rest of the street.

"Damned old buildings, this thing's like a damned tinder box!" One of the fire-fighters operating a hose complained. "There's no way the building should have gone up this quickly!"

"Just concentrate on the trouble in hand." The fire chief told him. "According to the landlord that's almost everyone on the register. We only need..."

"Sir, there's team Alpha!" Another called out as a couple of fire-fighters bundled a couple of people out of the building quickly. The fire chief took a quick count.

"Four, alright, that should be it!" He called out. "Alright, turn up everything! I don't want this to spread to the rest of the street!"

Just then, they heard a horrendous scream. The fire chief looked to the landlord.

"I thought you said that was everyone who lived here!" He yelled at him.

"It is! I can't help it if someone had visitors!" He protested. The fire chief just shook his head.

"Alpha, how's your BA equipment looking?" He asked.

"We're almost out!" One of them answered.

"Shit! Beta's re-filling!" He protested. "How long...?"

"Perhaps I can be of assistance!" They heard a voice calling out. They all parted as the Violet Avenger came running through the crowd, parting them as he went. "Everyone out of the way!"

He leapt from the ground, crashing through a window on the fourth floor as the fire crew just watched on.

"That crazy son of a..." The fire chief started to mutter, before looking to his crew. "Alright, pour it on! The least we can do is help him out!"

Inside the building, the Violet Avenger went crashing through the window and rolled to his feet, finding the entire floor engulfed in flames, and filling up with smoke. He started to look around for signs of the victim he had heard from outside.

"Hello?" He called out. "Don't be afraid! Help is here!"

He sounded a lot more comfortable than he actually was. His suit was protecting him, but he could still feel the temperature rising far beyond what was comfortable. He was sure that he would be choking on thick, dark smoke were it not for his helmet, which appeared to somehow sharpen his senses, compensating for the lack of visibility.

He had seen images of Tanifa, a huge, underwater lizard of his country's legend in his visions. Many had presumed that the reason it couldn't be found was because like a whale it was capable of holding its breath for amazing time periods, meaning it could live in the depths of the ocean far from prying eyes. That did raise questions about how it would be able to find its way around when visibility would be virtually non-existent, so far from the sun's rays in the depths, but again most presumed it would be able to echo-locate much like a whale. He didn't claim to know how that worked, but all he knew was that he could navigate the uneven surface of the damaged floor and burning fixtures as though he could see them as clear as day. He heard another scream, and could see someone moving.

"Don't worry, help is on the way!" He called out as he made his way over, clearing a path through debris. He found the victim, wrapped in a blanket, walking around like it was dazed and confused. He approached quickly, grabbing the victim's shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'll help..."

He was cut off as the figure swung around and he felt an incredible blow to his ribs, knocking him through a wall. He looked up, a little dazed as the figure stepped through. Throwing off the blanket, Fury revealed himself.

"YOU AGAIN?" The Violet Avenger screamed in panic.

"Don't worry, I'll make this quick." Fury responded, rushing forward and bringing down his sword. The Violet Avenger held up a hand in a panic, closing his eyes. Before he knew what was happening, something appeared in his hand. He felt the blow, but it was blocked by something. Opening his eyes cautiously, he saw he was holding a sword. He had no idea how he had gotten it, but he chose not to question it. Rolling away, all he could think was that he really wished he could keep his distance from the creature.

With no idea what was happening, in a flash of light, there was a large gun in his hand! He decided not to question his luck, and opened fire, bringing down a section of the ceiling on the creature.

"That serves you right you fiend!" He yelled, before taking to heel. He didn't want to press his luck now. He leapt from the building, while Fury roared and threw the debris aside.

"Your luck can't hold up forever Purple Ranger!" He roared. "Your power WILL be mine!"

Meanwhile, back in Amber Beach, Kendall was in her lab, keeping track of the Rangers' progress towards New Zealand. Shelby was on the communicator.

"I keep telling you, I'm sorry Ms Morgan." She said as Kendall continued to work. "I didn't know dad would call and give you a hard time..."

"He practically accused me of kidnapping Shelby!" Kendall told her. "It's only the fact you're over 18 that stopped him from calling the cops!"

"I promise I'll make it up to you!" Shelby continued. Kendall just sighed.

"I'll remind you of that when you see your next rota." Kendall grumbled. Just then, she heard an alert. She looked up, looking a little confused.

"What was that?" Shelby asked.

"It's...it's the armoury." Kendall told them. "Someone's accessing their weapons!"

Tyler and the others all looked around the cockpit of the Ptera Zord.

"Uh...Ms Morgan? We're all here." He reminded her. "No one has their weapons here."

"Phillipe, is it Phillipe?" Chase rushed out. Kendall checked up on her computer.

"No, according to this he's at the golf course." Kendall told them. "He isn't even morphed."

"So who is it then?" Riley asked. Kendall checked the computer, and her jaw dropped as she saw the reading.

"Guys...the Purple Ranger's weapons are gone." She told them.

"The Purple Ranger?" Tyler asked. "Then..."

"That must be what Fury's been looking for!" Kendall told them.

"Ivan, step on it!" Tyler told the Gold Ranger. "We need to get there fast. If someone is bound to the Purple Energem, and they're calling weapons they didn't know they could...they could be in seriously deep shit!"


	2. Auckland Legend

It was a few hours later by the time the Rangers arrived in New Zealand. The main advantage of using the Pterazord as opposed to a commercial flight...apart from not having to worry about the fact Riley, Ivan and Koda didn't actually have passports, was the fact that the Pterazord was significantly faster than commercial airlines. Chase came out of the hotel, having checked in for the team.

"I've left our bags with concierge. They say they'll have our luggage taken up when the rooms are ready." Chase told them as he started handing out the room keys.

"Twentieth floor?" Shelby asked. "Couldn't we have gotten anything a little nearer the pool?"

"Phillipe booked the rooms. It seems we've all got suites for the duration of our stay." Chase said with a little smile. "Sometimes it's good to have friends in high places."

"They ARE aware that the Prince won't be joining us right?" Tyler asked him. Chase just shrugged.

"You know what? It didn't come up." He chuckled. Just then, Ivan arrived. He had split up from the others to look for somewhere to hide the Pterazord. Chase handed him his room key.

"Twentieth floor?" He asked. "Am I still correct in thinking that the usual protocol is that the best rooms are the ones with the best view?"

"That's the way it works!" Tyler told him. "Phillipe swung us the best rooms in the place."

"I do not serve the crown of Zandar for rewards." Ivan responded, beginning to head towards the hotel. "Though I must admit it is not unwelcome."

"The rooms aren't ready yet." Shelby told him. "We need to come back in a couple of hours."

"Then since we have some time to kill, I propose we take a gander around Auckland." Ivan told them. "Perhaps we can find a lead on our elusive Purple friend."

"I think I have an idea." Chase declared, gesturing to the skyline. "You see that? That's called the Sky Tower! It has a restaurant at the top, and rotates all the way around, giving a great view of the whole city."

"You're just hungry aren't you?" Riley asked. Chase just looked to him.

"I've always wanted to go there, but mum hardly ever brought us to the North Island." He told the others. "I've ALWAYS wanted to go there."

"Chase, we should really get going on our search..."

They all paused as they heard a loud growling sound. They looked around for any sign of it.

"What was that?" Riley asked. "Has Fury...?"

They heard it again, at which Koda clutched his stomach. He just looked to the others.

"Sorry, that me." He responded, looking a little sheepish. Tyler just sighed.

"Well, I guess I could eat." He responded, waving down a couple of cabs. "Take us to the Skytower."

Elsewhere, the Violet Avenger had once again managed to make his escape, but this time he had barely gotten away. The cat monster that had been pursuing him for the last couple of weeks had lured him into a deadly trap. The burning tower block had created a tight, confusing environment that had forced him into a close fight, something that so far he had managed to avoid. When the creature had struck him, it felt like his chest was in danger of completely caving in, even with the suit's power protecting him. It was a sheer miracle that he had managed to summon those weapons.

That was something he still didn't understand. He had never seen the weapons before, never mind had any idea where they had come from. They had just appeared from nowhere, almost like they appeared purely because he needed them! In the confusion, he had once again managed to scramble away.

He had managed to get home, and he couldn't see any signs of anyone following him. It occurred to him though that didn't mean to say that he was safe. The aliens so far had found him a few times, so surely it was only a matter of time before they found out where he stayed. The only saving grace about coming out here was that his place was out in the woods. He knew them instinctively, he would be able to see and hear them coming long before they got to his home. There were no innocent bystanders around. Unlike in the city, where they had been the ones that could set traps for him, he could be the one that set the traps.

Traps! That was when the thought occurred to him...traps! Of course! Out there, his enemy had the advantage. Out here, he knew the landscape and their numbers would count for nothing. He went into a nearby chest and grabbed some supplies, pulling out some rope and a shovel, before running back out into the woods. It was only a matter of time before they came for him, but by the time they did, he would be ready!

Back in the city, the Rangers had gotten to the Skytower, and had made their way up, finding themselves in the restaurant. It was indeed an impressive view, extending as far as the city limits. They had already gotten hold of a tourist map from the hotel. From up here, they were sure they would be able to quickly get a grip on where things were...presuming they could get a table!

"I don't believe this, can you believe this queue?" Chase asked. Shelby just rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, one of the hottest restaurants in the city is completely packed at lunch time." Shelby muttered. "Who'd have thought it?"

Chase just ignored Shelby, making his way to the girl at the desk. She just looked up.

"Look, my friends and I are only in Auckland a short time." Chase stated, moving in closer, and pulling a few dollars out of his wallet. "Is there anything you can do for us?"

"I can tell you again that there's a queue." She replied, sliding the money back. Chase looked to the others, smiling nervously. He was used to being able to talk his way into just about anything. Of course over here, he couldn't rely on his accent being unique enough to make him interesting.

"Would it help if I told you I just happen to be a personal friend of the Prince of Zandar?" He asked her, sliding the money back. The waitress just looked to him in disbelief, before sliding the money back a little more forcefully.

"Then you should be able to come up with a better bribe, and a better line Your Highness." She responded. Chase just sighed and turned back to the others.

"Well, sorry about that guys." Chase responded despondently. "I guess we'll have to make do with burgers."

"We have burgers back home." Koda grumbled. "Want New Zealand food."

One of the things Koda loved about this new time, and the new world was the huge variety of flavours and ingredients available. In his day, the diet consisted of whatever was within walking distance of the caves his tribe inhabited in that season. They would move camp whenever the climate shifted to the point that the herds moved on and the local foliage no longer provided enough to eat. While his favourite was burgers by a long shot, something that was never likely to change, Kendall had done her best to vary up his diet a little, and brought him a number of other things from outside the restaurant. Koda was well aware the world was a lot bigger than he ever dreamed of in his day, and now thanks to modern shipping, people had access to a whole world of different dishes. While he was perfectly confident he would get burgers at some point, he really wanted to try something from Chase's homeland when he had the chance. Chase just looked to him.

"Maybe when we get back to the hotel mate." He promised him. "Until then, maybe we should..."

"Chase?" Someone asked. Chase and the others just looked around, surprised to hear that someone knew him here. While he was from New Zealand, he was from the South Islands. It wasn't like he knew everyone in New Zealand. Thinking so was like presuming everyone in Amber Beach would know everyone in New York! As they looked to the voice, they saw a strangely familiar face. He was blonde, a little taller than Chase, and very well-built, wearing a tight, aquamarine T-shirt and white jeans. Shelby stumbled a little, and quickly hid behind Tyler. "CHASE! My MAN! What the hell are you doing here?"

"Keith?" Chase responded, hugging the large man tightly. "I could ask you the same thing!"

"We're on tour at the moment. We're stopping here on the way to Sydney." Keith told him. Koda pointed as he recognised him.

"You N-Zed boy!" He recalled, remembering when they turned up at the restaurant in Amber Beach. Shelby was trying hard not to be seen. She was a massive fan, and was still embarrassed by her complete geek-out when they showed up looking for a pre-concert meal. "You come to our restaurant!"

"Say, that's right, those kick-ass burgers in Amber Beach!" Keith responded. "Man, they were the absolute BEST! So what are you doing out here?"

"We were trying to get a table." Chase told him. "But it seems..."

"Say no more man, we only just got here." Keith replied, going to the girl at the desk. "Say, could you see your way to sorting out some extra chairs for our table?"

"Um...ah...of course!" She stammered, gesturing to some others to do what they could to find five more chairs. "I'll show you..."

"There'll be no need for that." Keith told her. "Come on man, the table's right this way!"

As they followed Keith into the restaurant, Tyler made his way to his side.

"So, you know Chase?" He asked.

"Of course I know him! Who do you think told us about that cafe you work at?" He asked. Chase just glared at him. Keith, however, didn't seem to notice. "He might have decided to do the whole dinosaur thing, but once an N-Zed boy, always an N-Zed boy!"

"Wait...he was in the band?" Riley asked, immediately looking to Chase. The Black Ranger just shook his head. He hadn't actually told them that he was in the band. He had been the one to call them when his thoughtlessness prevented Shelby being able to buy tickets to their concert in Amber Beach.

"So what's the fish of the day?" Chase asked, hurriedly trying to change the subject.

Over in the US, Kendall was in the lab, working with her computers to try and narrow down the search for the Purple Ranger. Now that they knew that the weapons had been summoned, it was clear that the Purple Energem had bonded to a host. Now that she knew they were searching for a Ranger, it would, in theory at least, narrow the search.

However, it seemed that was a lot simpler in principle than it was in practice. So far, all she could do was narrow the search down to New Zealand's North Island...of course they knew that much already. By virtue of the reports of Sledge's drop pods being seen in Auckland, they knew that he was searching for something there.

Now that the weapons were back, she had managed to put a trace on them. If they were summoned again, she would be able to trace them far more accurately than they had been. However, they did have an issue. The Purple Energem was elusive, far more elusive than others it seemed. Due to the nature of the Plesiosaurus, the water lizard that lent its spirit to the Purple Energem, it was not as simple to find as others. Despite its immense size, it seemed that the Plesiosaurus was an ambush predator, known for concealing itself in caves and underwater caverns. It was one of the reasons that many believed it was possible there may even be some still in existence, hidden in underwater caverns that couldn't be explored, most famously the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland or Tanifa in New Zealand were believed by some to be Plesiosaurs that had somehow lived into the modern era. Such stories were considered by most in the scientific community to be nothing more than fairy stories. Of course she lived in a world where she had personally seen Bigfoot and one of her Rangers had been to a magical tournament where he had actually jousted on a unicorn! Tanifa was not really beyond belief right now. Of course what it also meant was that the Energem seemed to inherit its ability to conceal itself from the great lizard.

"Alright, I've updated the search parameters and now..." She waited to see what the results came back. "I've narrowed it down to only twenty square miles! DAMN IT!"

She tossed her computer mouse aside and started to stroke her temples. She only looked up as a glass was placed beside her. It was a soluble aspirin. Allison just smiled to her.

"I had a feeling you might appreciate this." She told her. Kendall just took a sip.

"Thank you." She responded. After being yelled at by Shelby's dad for a good twenty minutes, she had spent all the time afterwards staring at computer screens. She was grateful for anything to relieve the headache. "How are things upstairs?"

They're a little busier than I'd like." Allison groaned. "There are a few moans from the others about the rota changing for your 'superstars' again."

Kendall could see Allison making the quotation marks with her fingers, and understood she had a point. There were good reasons that the others were given a lot of leeway with how they behaved and acted in the museum. While they were on her 'dig team', a job title that miraculously explained a lot of absences and sudden departures, that didn't mean to say some of the others didn't have some complaints regarding the fact that things seemed to revolve around them. It wasn't like there were many arguments either without telling anyone what they were really doing. Within a couple of weeks, her 'dig team' had attended the opening of an Embassy as invited guests, and now been given a full-ride trip to New Zealand!

"How bad is it?" She asked.

"Brad was ready to walk out. It's his anniversary with Petra." Allison told her. "I agreed to pull a double if he takes my morning shift tomorrow. Rhiannon was bitching about having to come in tomorrow, but I just reminded her that she has that killer Amex bill to deal with and she seemed a lot happier. Sorry, I kind of promised you'd sign it off as overtime instead of just changing the shift."

"No, that's fine." Kendall responded, turning to look to Allison. "How are the shifts looking?"

"We've got six shifts going begging." Allison told her. "I can cover two of them, and I managed to convince Alessandra to do a couple of shifts, and I'm hoping I can bribe or guilt-trip some of the others into dealing with the others."

"You did all that?" Kendall asked her, a little impressed. She knew that Allison, as the only one who knew their secret, was a little more understanding about the whole deal. She did a lot to help out, largely because of her relationship with Chase, but it seemed there had been something of a change in her. She and Chase were a lot alike; the Allison that came to them was more than a little irresponsible and thoughtless. She'd actually been fired from her last job for letting a whole dining room full of customers walk out without paying because she was too busy hitting on Chase to notice them leaving. When she cared about something though, it was like a switch was flipped in her brain and she became a very different person. Chase could be counted on to do anything for his friends. Allison just shrugged, like it was no big deal.

"You have a lot on your plate. I figured the last thing you needed to worry about was the cafe." Allison responded. Kendall just smiled.

"It's appreciated." Kendall told her. "Tell me, have you ever thought much about being a supervisor?"

"Supervisor? Me?" Allison said with a laugh. "Are you kidding? I..."

"You've shown a lot of good judgement, leadership." Kendall interrupted her. "Not to mention diplomacy, and a good measure of motivation."

"Ms Morgan, don't supervisors have to do cash-ups and..."

"Do you know how to check two pieces of paper to see if the numbers are the same on both?" Kendall asked her. Allison just nodded. "Then you have pretty much all the skills you need."

"Supervisor, eh?" Allison asked, starting to think about it.

"It wouldn't be much, but there would be a little bump in your salary." Kendall said, trying to swing the deal. "I promise I'll show you what you're looking for with the paperwork...it would only take a couple of hours."

"I...guess I could do that." Allison replied. "Not to mention it'd be great to see the look on mum's face when I tell her I've actually been promoted."

"So you'll do it?" Kendall asked. Allison just extended a hand for a handshake.

"Ms Morgan, you've got yourself a supervisor!" Allison replied.

Back in New Zealand, Chase was sitting, slumped in his chair, while his team were laughing, listening to stories from his old friends, the boy-band the N-Zed Boys recounting some old tales. He had managed to keep the fact he used to be in the band quiet from the team, knowing they'd probably just give him hassle over it. He hadn't even told them it was him that called the band and got them to swing by the restaurant when Shelby missed her chance to buy tickets to see them.

"So, there we were on the local cable show, three weeks before our debut, and our genius of a manager had only just got us together and rushed us on for publicity, so quickly that we hadn't even learned any songs yet!" Keith told them between mouthfuls. "So there we were, six High-school kids, sitting on a TV show, proclaiming ourselves a band, and our manager never anticipated the one question anyone should have foreseen."

"Can you perform for us?" Riley suggested. One of the other members of the band pulled out an I-pad, pulling up the footage. He showed the Rangers the footage showing all six of them chaotically floundering around on the stage.

"We didn't even have any routines yet!" Keith laughed. "At least the YouTube footage got plenty of hits."

"Looking good there Chase." Riley said, gesturing to Chase.

"Hey, he was the only one of us who could actually dance!" Keith responded. "Why do you think we hired him? It sure as hell wasn't for his singing!"

"We've heard him in the shower, I can vouch for that!" Tyler sniggered as the group joined in. Eventually, Chase just looked to the others.

"Alright, as much as I love this trip down memory lane, we didn't come all the way here to re-live my musical career." Chase cut in.

"Yeah, so what are you doing here anyway?" Barry, one of the other band members asked. Chase showed them the newspaper.

"We were hoping to check this out." Chase told them, showing them the newspaper. Barry just looked curious.

"What, you're chasing UFO's now?" He asked. "I thought it was dinosaurs you chased."

"Yeah, I thought you'd have been more interested in the Tanifa sightings." Keith chipped in.

"Tanifa?" Tyler asked. "What's that?"

"We just wanted to check it out." Chase told them. "It says the photo was taken by an...Albert Smith..."

"Albert Smith?" Keith said with a smile. "Well, if you want to chase conspiracy stories and fairy tales, he's definitely your guy!"

"You know him?" Riley asked.

"Everyone in Auckland does! He's something of a legend around these parts!" Barry told them, pulling a flyer out of his pocket and handing it to them. "He's some crazy old hermit, full of wild stories! He has a place in the woods where he runs Bigfoot tours!"

"Bigfoot, UFO's, Tanifa, Giant Squid..." Shelby read from the flyer, seeing the tours on offer. "So...he's...?"

"He's a bit of an old crackpot, but he's harmless enough, entertaining with it!" Keith told them. "We always take in one of his tours when we're in the area. The only one we've not taken in is the Giant Squid one."

"Well, if we're going to find out where this photo was taken, I guess there are worse places to start than asking the guy that took the picture." Tyler said as he got up. "Thanks for lunch by the way!"

"Hey, last time lunch was on you right?" Keith replied. "Have fun guys!"

As they were about to go, Shelby just stopped and handed Keith her number.

"Oh, and you will send me that footage right?" She asked. Keith just smiled.

"Of course."


	3. World Famous

Back in the old theatre in Auckland, Wrench was still working on his device when Fury came back into the restaurant. The cyborg looked up from where he was working, only to see the large, feline bounty hunter staggering into the room. He had to stifle a chuckle.

"Good day hunting?" He asked. Fury just growled and smashed up an old set with his sword. Wrench had to struggle not to laugh at the display. Fury was always an impatient, impulsive creature. He had left the theatre by himself, not waiting for the reinforcements from Sledge, believing that he was more than powerful enough to take down a single Ranger, especially one that as far as they could see had no idea what power he wielded. "I'll take that as a no then."

Fury didn't say anything. He was still seething over his embarrassing failure. He had brought the Purple Ranger into what should have been a perfect trap. He had him trapped, cornered, and completely at his mercy. However, just as he was about to finish him off, the Purple Ranger summoned his weapons.

The Purple Ranger seemed to be just as surprised as he was when the sword appeared in his hand. He was so amazed that the blaster appeared that he barely managed to get his shot off. However, the distraction was all that was needed. By the time Fury managed to disentangle himself from some wreckage, once again, he was gone.

"I don't see YOU doing anything to help!" Fury growled. "What the hell is that?"

"This is all the help we'll ever need!" Wrench declared proudly. "With this, we'll be able to bring all the reinforcements we will ever need!"

"I thought Sledge was sending Meteor." Fury replied gruffly. Wrench just nodded.

"He did, Meteor is already here!" Wrench answered. "And he brought a little something with him that should help immensely."

"Alright, so what EXACTLY is this thing anyway?" Fury asked.

"This is a re-animator!" Wrench told him. "It's a little something I've been working on for...a good while anyway."

"Re-animator?" Fury asked. "So it...?"

"As long as I have some genetic material, I can bring back anyone that has been destroyed!" Wrench told him. Fury just looked to him sceptically.

"That's not possible." He told him.

"Fine, strictly speaking it makes a genetic clone from the genetic material." Wrench groaned. "What? You know it was always easier to bring back prisoners dead than alive. The only reason you and Sledge bothered was because the reward was higher if they were alive when they were returned!"

"So, you were going to give our clients clones?" Fury asked.

"They'd be genetically identical." Wrench responded abruptly. "I only care about the science. Let the courts worry about the metaphysical 'is it really the one that committed the crime' issue."

"So this thing really works?" Fury asked him. He wasn't too sure how he felt about the prospect of re-animating dead prisoners, but he could understand the practical side of how useful it would be to be able to bring back some of their fallen monsters. They had lost some useful powers and abilities in their battles to the Rangers.

"There's just one way to find out!" Wrench said as he put a sample into the machine. He started to make some adjustments and punch in some commands. Fury joined him by the console. "Just one more adjustment and...prepare to say hello once more to Ice Age!"

He threw the main switch, and the machine sparked into life. Every light in the theatre flickered, and sparks flew all over the room. Eventually, they saw a form appearing in the middle of the stage. Fury watched in awe, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"I can't believe it! It's working!" Fury called out. "It's really..."

Just then, there was a blood-curdling scream and the creature flopped forward onto the floor as the machine fell dark. They came across, seeing a horrendous creature, all muscle and bone, with no skin at all, floundering on the floor. Fury just looked to the pitiful creature as he shook his head in disgust, before looking to Fury.

"Don't say a word." Wrench sighed as he looked to the creature, crawling away, leaving a trail of blood on the floor.

"You want me to...?"

"No, I'll take care of it." Wrench answered, picking up his axe and approaching the creature. He knelt down over it. "Sadly, failure is a part of science." With that, he brought the blade down on the unfortunate creature, putting it out of its misery.

Meanwhile, outside of the city, the Rangers had managed to find somewhere they could hire a truck, and were heading out into the woods. Chase was driving; keeping to the route his old friends in the band had set out for him. It might not exactly be home, but he was back in his home country. Looking around at the amazing scenery that had gained the country a lot of focus in the many movies and TV series that had started filming out here, he couldn't help feeling good to be sharing this with his friends.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Tyler asked him. The Sat-Nav had stopped giving readings quite some time ago, and they had been driving for what seemed like hours on dirt tracks through the woods.

"Don't worry, this is the right way. Keith told me exactly where I was going." Chase assured them. "See, there's the lake up on the left."

"Wow, and I used to think my home was remote." Riley remarked as he looked around. "How long's it even been since we saw asphalt?"

"I like here." Koda said with a huge smile on his face. It made sense that he was comfortable out here. It had to be a lot closer to his old home than he usually found in the modern world. While there were open spaced not far from Amber Beach, he hadn't really had much of a chance to explore them. Ivan too seemed to be enjoying this trip. In his day, while there were towns in Zandar, they weren't anything like the asphalt jungles of the modern era. He had regaled them a few times about his days hunting with the Royal Family on their estate.

"No cell signal." Shelby said as she checked her phone. "Wow, we really are out in the boonies."

"Actually, out here we call them the Wop Wops." Chase told them as they finally passed what looked like the first man-made structure they had seen since leaving the city. It was a pile of tyres, which acted as a bumper around a pole, either side of the "road". There was a large plank of wood nailed to them creating a form of arch over the road. It was painted with a sign, proclaiming it "Albert Smith's Bigfoot Tours."

They pulled through the arch, into a clearing where there was a shed erected, and some other wooden furniture. A couple of oil drums and logs marked out kind of a perimeter. It looked like the whole place had been cobbled together out of whatever the mysterious Albert Smith could cobble together out of whatever he could find.

"Does anyone else get a distinct, 'Texas Chainsaw' vibe from this place?" She asked as they looked around. Ivan went to the shed and knocked on the door. When he pounded on the door a little harder, but there was still no answer.

"It appears Mr Smith may not be here." He suggested. "Perhaps he's taking a group on another tour?"

"There's no one else parked here." Tyler pointed out. "It's kind of a long way to come without a car."

"Mr Smith!" Riley called out. The others just looked to him a little surprised at how loudly he could yell. He shrugged. "I grew up on a farm! Do you know how hard it is to get someone to hear you at the other end of the field over a tractor?"

"Mr Smith!" Shelby called out as well. Tyler saw something a little way off, and started to make his way towards it.

"Hey guys, check this out." Tyler said, making his way towards something dangling from a nearby tree. It was what appeared to be a rack of pork ribs.

"An odd place to hang such a thing." Ivan commented.

"If he's preparing food, then he can't have gone far." Riley responded. "He's got to be around here somewhere."

"But why hang it here? It's not even marinated." Tyler said as he reached out for it. Koda was looking for clues on Albert's location, footprints and suchlike when he saw Tyler reaching over and grabbing it.

"TYLER NO!" He called out. Too late though, there was a cracking as a mechanism was triggered. Before they knew it, Tyler, Riley, Ivan, Chase and Shelby were all hoisted into the air in a large net. They started to swing high above the camp site. Koda had recognised the trap as similar to one of the traps his tribe used to use while hunting. Unfortunately, Tyler had already triggered it. The net swung back and forth as they all struggled against it. Koda ran underneath the net, looking up at them.

"Whoa, what the hell?" Chase yelled.

"Dude, get your butt out of my face!" Shelby said as someone's ass squashed her face against the strands of the net. "Wait...whose butt is that?"

"Is that your foot in my eye Shelby?" Riley asked.

"Someone has VERY sharp elbows!" Ivan complained. "Would you mind moving?"

"Wait...Shelby, I think that might be my butt." Tyler said somewhat apologetically.

"Great, well you better keep that chilli-burger gas right where it is mister!" Shelby warned him.

"Guys!" Koda called out from the ground. "You alright?"

"Koda?" Chase asked. "Koda! My man! Can you get us down?"

"I get down." Koda told them, before looking around; finding the place the rope holding them up was tied off. He ran over and started trying to untie it. He looked back to them. "Ropes tied too tight."

"Then find something to cut them!" Tyler suggested. Koda started to look around. He had plenty of rocks lying around, and in his day he had fashioned more than a few tools from such materials. He could do so eventually, but it would take at least a couple of hours to make a serviceable blade.

"What I use?" He asked.

"I don't know; find a machete, an axe, ANYTHING!" Chase suggested. Koda ran off, beginning to look around the camp. He disappeared from view, leaving the Rangers dangling from the tree.

"So Riley, you're kind of a rural kid." Shelby said as she struggled to get into as comfortable a position as she could given the circumstances.

"ELBOWS!" Ivan complained as she moved.

"Sorry!" She responded. "So...you ever make anything like this?"

"Yeah, I did." Riley said in a sarcastic tone. "I also used to go swimmin' in the creek and drink moonshine!"

"Alright, point taken." She muttered. Just then, they heard something coming through the undergrowth.

"Guys, Koda must have found something!" Tyler told them. However, as they looked over, those of them that could anyway, they were slightly disappointed to see an elderly man crashing through the tree line. He had slightly wild white hair, with a beard and moustache, and was dressed in rough, hard-wearing cargo pants and a checked shirt, beneath a canvas waistcoat. He was wearing a kind of tin helmet that had been covered in foliage, obviously a kind of camouflage. He was wearing an eyepatch over one eye. He yelled as he ran out.

"Gotcha!" He screamed, waving his hands in the air triumphantly. Albert looked up, only to see the humans in the net hanging overhead. "Wait, you're not...oh dear."

"Albert Smith I presume?" Ivan asked him. Albert just nodded, shoving something away in his pocket.

"Uh...yes, that's me." He replied. "And you are...?"

"We WERE hoping to talk to you." Riley told him.

"Really?" He asked, looking a little suspicious of them. He started to pace. He hadn't seen them before, and from what he could tell, they weren't from around here. Most of them sounded American, while the other one sounded...English? He straightened himself out. "What are you here for?"

"I'll try this." Chase said as he tried to twist to speak to Albert. He hoped, being from New Zealand, that he would be a little more comfortable with a familiar accent. "Listen, we only came to talk to you about your work out here."

"Oh." Albert said, beginning to feel a little sheepish. He was obviously a little too jumpy for his own good right now. While he did live out in the wilderness, he was running a business. It wasn't much, but sometimes people DID take him up on his offer of tours.

"Yes, we'll talk to you all about it." Shelby told him. "Now would you mind letting us down?"

"Oh, right, of course." He responded, heading to his shed and opening the door. He had a machete in his hand as he came back towards them. As he approached, there was suddenly a massive yell. Before he could respond properly, Albert found himself tackled hard, and rammed against a tree. He was lifted up, his feet not touching the ground by the new arrival. Koda snarled at him.

"Koda!" Tyler called out. "Koda, it's alright! He was going to cut us down!" Tyler assured him. Koda just grunted, before letting Albert down. The older man just looked to him, seemingly terrified of the much larger and younger man.

"Koda, its fine, just let him cut us down." Tyler told him. Koda just nodded and gestured to the rope.

"Here, take hold of this." He told Koda indicating the rope holding the net. "You probably won't be able to hold all of them, but you should slow their fall."

"Koda's a lot stronger than he looks." Chase assured him. Albert just nodded.

"Alright, hold on tight!" He told Koda, hacking the rope. Koda strained against it, lowering his friends as slowly as he could. They still landed in a somewhat crumpled heap. They started to try and disentangle themselves from the worst game of Twister in history. Albert could see that they were human, and they were decidedly less than happy. He might live out in the Wop Wops, but even he knew how damaging to business word of mouth could be, and even he occasionally had things he needed to buy in town.

"I'm sorry about the misunderstanding." He told them, trying to think of what to say to explain how they had ended up in an animal trap. "I was...uh...trying to catch a Bigfoot."

"A bigfoot?" Riley asked. "So you really are Albert Smith!"

"Yes, that's me!" He responded. "I'm world famous! IN NEW ZEALAND!"

As he cackled, the Rangers all started to look among one another. They knew they'd found the right guy, but they weren't sure exactly what to make of him. He didn't really seem like he was all there, especially upstairs!

"I...see." Ivan finally managed to say. He then gestured to them wildly.

"Come; take a seat at the table! Allow me to get some refreshments!" He told them.

"That really isn't necessary." Chase told him. "We only came here..."

"No, no, please I insist, allow me to make up for the little misunderstanding with the net." He told them. "I'll be back in a jiffy, then I'll tell you all about the hidden wonders of the world that THEY don't want you to know about!"

As he scurried off, the Rangers stared after him.

"Well, he is an...interesting fellow." Ivan stated.

"That's one way to put it." Chase answered. "Thank God you all met me before you met him or you'd think New Zealand was the world's largest insane asylum."

"Oh, he's not that bad." Tyler said with a smile on his face. "Sure, he's a little..."

His words tailed off as there was some crashing from inside Albert's shed.

"OK, so he's a LOT different." He continued.

"Tyler, we've been here twenty minutes and already he had us strung up like animals!" Riley reminded him.

"Yeah, and he's also the one that took that picture." Tyler replied. "Who cares if most of this stuff is probably bunk? Even nut cases occasionally find something by accident!"

"I'm afraid I don't have much!" Albert called out, his head rounding the door frame. "Is ginger beer alright for everyone?"

"That sounds great Albert!" Tyler replied. He saw the way the others were looking at him. "Look, he might be odd, but let's ask him about the picture and then we can be on our way."

As the others went to the table, only Shelby remained behind with Tyler. She looked to him.

"Tyler, you know he might not have any idea what that thing is." Shelby said to him. He just nodded.

"For his sake I hope he doesn't." Tyler responded with a sigh. Shelby just started to stroke his shoulder sympathetically. She could see that this was about more than just some weird old hermit that lived out in the middle of nowhere for Tyler. It was likely that if he wasn't just an opportunist that exploited gullible tourists to earn a few bucks, that Albert was a genuine crack pot that lived this way because he believed in all this stuff so much he had left the real world behind. Of course, it was more than that to Tyler. After all, a lot of people had said, and even still said the exact same thing about Dr Neil Nevarro!


	4. The Purple Ranger

The Rangers were all sitting around the table in Albert's yard, in reality just a large, rough piece of wood that had been propped up on some logs cut to the same length. They were all sitting on folding deck chairs as they waited for Albert to come back from wherever he had ran off to now. Ivan was shifting a little uncomfortably in his chair.

"This Albert may be a well-meaning host, but his furniture leaves something to be desired." Ivan grumbled. "Back home there were pillories that were more comfortable."

"I have a feeling that Albert doesn't get too many visitors out here." Riley surmised, looking to the mismatched collection of ups and glasses that were arrayed before them. A chipped pitcher of ginger beer was sitting in the middle of the table. To be polite, the Rangers had all poured themselves a glass, but they weren't exactly rushing to go for a second. "Certainly none that stay for dinner."

"Come on guys, he's obviously trying." Shelby replied. "Besides, he did take that picture."

"It's not so bad." Tyler said as he smiled, taking a little sip of the admittedly slightly warm ginger beer. "Sure he's a little different. I kind of like that."

"Well, I for one think he's not exactly firing on all cylinders upstairs." Chase said, making a little swirling motion with his finger by his head. "I say when he gets back; we find out where he took that picture and get out of here."

"Hey, lay off him a little." Shelby replied, looking to Tyler, who was becoming noticeably uncomfortable hearing the others talking about Albert behind his back.

"Come on, the man thinks he's out hunting Bigfoot." Riley reminded them.

"Given all we've seen and done, is that really such a stretch of the imagination?" Tyler asked.

A moment later, before anyone could answer him, the eccentric old man came shuffling back, carrying a large bag with him. He dumped it on the table, smiling with the excitement of a schoolboy who was rushing home to show off his homework scores.

"I have to say, you've come to the right place if you're looking for the unexplained." Albert said with excitement. "I've been out here over twenty years, and I've seen all kinds of strange and unusual things."

"I'll bet." Riley muttered under his breath. Shelby kicked his shin under the table, but looking to Albert, it appeared the old man either hadn't heard him or didn't care. She imagined he'd probably have heard a few mocking him. He rummaged around in his bag, before pulling out a long, spiralled piece of what looked like bone, placing it down in front of Riley. The Green Ranger just looked to it.

"This is the horn of a genuine unicorn!" Albert declared proudly. Riley picked it up. It seemed a little heavier than bone, and it didn't feel like any bone Riley had ever encountered. It felt more like moulded plastic.

"A unicorn?" Riley asked, smiling to him and looking to Shelby and Tyler. They all knew what he was thinking; he knew that unicorns really did exist, though not in this realm. He had actually RIDDEN a unicorn once, back when Daggeron had lent him Brightstar to use as a steed in the joust at the Mystic Tournament. Of all the people he could have picked to show it to, Riley was an ironic choice. "You don't say! I suppose you hunted him for this?"

"Oh no, I couldn't do anything to harm such a beautiful creature. They naturally shed their horns over their lives." Albert replied. Riley just nodded and continued to smile, like he was holding back the urge to just laugh in the old man's face.

"Oh...well that explains it I guess." Riley responded. The old man went back into the bag, pulling out a huge, plaster mould. It was like a huge footprint. He laid it down in front of the others for inspection.

"Footprint from a Bigfoot!" He told them, continuing. "For such large creatures, they are slippery buggers. You all saw the kind of trap you need if you want to get a hold of one, and even they aren't guaranteed."

"Wow that certainly is a...um...big foot." Chase said, handing the mould to Tyler. Again, it was unfortunate that they had already actually seen Bigfoot. He had been discovered by the Megaforce team during their tenure, having been mutated into Bluefur. Once they turned him back, the Megaforce team had taken him to Gosei's island to live out his days in peace where no one would find him. To the best of anyone's knowledge, it was the only one in existence. Shelby shot Chase a little glare as he seemed to almost taunt Tyler with this knowledge. Tyler seemed keen to defend Albert, but even he seemed to be starting to get more than a little evidence the old man was full of it.

"Oh, but I've saved the best for last!" Albert told them, going back into the bag. He pulled out a length of pink...it looked like rubber, and had suckers along it. He held it out for them to see. "I wrestled a giant squid once, just a few miles from here! He got my eye, ripped it right out of its socket with one of its' damned suckers, but I got its leg!"

"Really, a giant squid?" Tyler said nervously, laughing a little and smiling. The fact the leg was tiny, only a few inches long, didn't help the 'giant' part of the story, nor did the fact he still had the leg. Seafood tended to go off quickly, and so there wasn't really any way Albert could have kept the leg without preservatives. Ms Morgan had a few creepy samples in her private collection in the lab, but they were kept in jars of formaldehyde. Albert seemed to just keep this stuffed in a canvas bag! "Wow!"

"Uh, please, good sir." Ivan said, becoming a little impatient and trying to politely move the conversation along. He was no stranger to tall tales. In his day, long before the internet, telephones, television, or even before the majority were even capable of reading letters, the main way stories spread was through word of mouth, people recounting stories they had heard in the streets, over campfires, in their homes, or even in taverns. Of course the same thing happened every time. With each telling, the story got a little embellished. Things would be added, a few small facts would be altered, all to make a more interesting story. There was even a story from his homeland how he had fought single-handedly against 150 outlaws to bring in a notorious brigand and bested him in combat. It was a far more exciting tale than the truth, that he had shown up with a contingent of 50 knights to find 8 outlaws and that the brigand had been more than happy to hand himself over without a fuss seeing their superior numbers. Of course, that version wouldn't have been as entertaining over a few ales. "If you could just tell us about this picture..."

"Right, you're more interested in the UFO! I've seen it 5 times, all over the city!" He said as he gave them some more photos. These pictures, unlike Albert's other 'souvenirs' seemed to be genuine. They definitely didn't seem to be obviously faked. Albert placed a large egg before them.

"Now, when I get back, I'll tell you how I came by this giant dragon's egg." Albert said, before scurrying off. The Rangers breathed a little sigh of relief, but knew he would likely be back soon with more trinkets to convince them to buy into his tours. Tyler seemed a little curious as to where Albert was going, and picked up the footprint, following him. Shelby pulled in as the others started to snigger.

"Even my uncle not tell such tall tales." Koda chuckled. "And he once say he swallowed whole by Sabre Tooth Tiger and fight way out from inside!"

"Alright guys, he might be a little bit of a con artist, but these pictures are real." Shelby responded. "These are definitely transport pods!"

"They've also been seen all over the city, so obviously there's no one area that we're likely to find Fury." Riley answered. "We've found out everything we're going to from this nutcase, let's get Tyler and get out of here!"

"Alright, but would you guys just...lay off him a little?" Shelby asked them. "At least, in front of Tyler?"

"Why, the guy's a loon." Chase chuckled. Shelby just sighed and looked to them.

"Think about it guys." She responded, before standing up. "I'll tell Tyler we're heading out."

Meanwhile, Tyler had followed Albert around behind his shed. He had obviously gone to find more of his souvenirs, but he seemed to be distracted, handling a radio. As Tyler got closer, he could hear the reports coming in, and realised it was tuned to a police frequency.

"A police scanner, cool!" Tyler said, startling Albert, who dropped something on the ground. He was quick to press his foot onto it before Tyler could see what it was.

"Uh...yes!" Albert replied.

"Aren't those illegal?" Tyler asked him. Albert just shook his head.

"Not if they're only used for entertainment purposes." He assured Tyler. "If you use the information for personal gain its illegal. I like to know what's going on around town...what are you doing back here anyway?"

"I just wanted to thank you for showing us this stuff." Tyler replied. "You know, my dad and I went Bigfoot hunting once."

"Really?" Albert asked him. "How many did you catch?"

"None." Tyler admitted. "But I did catch a cold. But it was a great adventure." Albert grabbed him by the shoulders.

"And that's what life should be don't you think?" Albert asked him. "One great adventure! Your dad sounds like quite the adventurer. I'd like to meet him." Tyler went a little quiet as he said this.

"Unfortunately, he's not here." Tyler told him. "I don't know where he is. He went missing ten years ago. He went on one of his adventures near Amber Beach and...I haven't seen him since."

"Ten years ago?" Albert asked. "Amber Beach? Wait...are you saying your father is Dr Neil Nevarro?"

"Yeah, he is." Tyler replied. Albert smiled brightly.

"My boy, that man is a legend!" He said in a delighted tone. "Why, I've read his books cover to cover more times than I can count!"

He stopped as he realised that Tyler though was a little less enthusiastic. He came and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Wherever he is, I'm sure if he could come back to you, he would." Albert said sympathetically. Shelby appeared behind them.

"Tyler." Shelby called out. The Red Ranger turned towards her. "We're going to go. It's getting kind of late."

"Right, of course." Tyler answered. He handed the footprint back to Albert. "Thanks for all your time."

"Anything for a fellow adventurer!" Albert said, waving them off as they headed for the car. He waited until they were gone, before lifting his foot up off the ground, picking up his mysterious purple crystal.

"That news once again, a jail break has taken place at the Bay Area police holding cells." The Police scanner crackled. "Officers are to be on the lookout for..."

Albert just looked to his crystal and smiled.

"Now, time for a REAL adventure!" He said as he transformed.

Back at the theatre, Wrench was trying once again to get his machine working. Fury was already starting to get a little restless, but then he normally was anyway. The fact he had already been humiliated earlier the same day by the Purple Ranger did nothing to make his mood any better.

"No wonder the last attempt didn't work out as expected." Wrench said as he found what he was looking for.

"As expected?" Fury asked, a little this understatement. "He didn't have any SKIN!"

"It's a minor fix." Wrench assured him. "In a few hours, I should have everything ready..."

Just then, they heard the radio burst into life. Much like Albert, they were listening into the police frequencies. Just like the Rangers back home, it seemed like he was drawn to any kind of emergency even if it led them into mortal danger. It seemed even the bumbling fool that had happened into these powers had the same compulsion.

"Well, while you mess with this glorified toaster, I'm going to do what we were sent here to do!" Fury told him. "Meteor, come! Let's leave Wrench to his little experiment. We've got some REAL work to do."

As they left, Wrench just got back to work.

Meanwhile, back in the middle of the city, the Rangers had gone to the bay, stopping by a snack truck for some ice-cream while they checked out a map. They had managed to figure out from some internet searches and asking a few locals where each of the photographs had been taken and plotted them out on a tourist map, allowing them to see the that it made a loose ring around the city.

"Right, these five points are where the transport pod has been sighted." Shelby stated.

"It definitely looks like Fury is searching the city for the Purple Energem." Riley said as he looked to the points. "He's probably holed up somewhere in the centre of the city, round this kind of area."

"That means Auckland is going to be in a lot of trouble until the Purple Energem is found." Chase replied. "Once we find this guy and take him back to Amber Beach, Fury will have no reason to hang around here. That should give them some breathing space."

"The news once again, the jail break in the Bay Area was thwarted by the Violet Avenger." They heard the radio announcing. There was something of a cheer from the other patrons nearby.

"Wait, did you guys hear that?" Riley asked.

"Violet Avenger?" Tyler asked, looking a little astounded. "Wait, do you guys think...?"

"You guys haven't heard of the Violet Avenger?" One of the other diners asked them. "The guy's amazing! He's a regular real-life superhero!"

"Superhero my eye!" One of the others protested. "Everyone knows all those monsters only started showing up when he did!"

"Monsters?" Chase asked as the Rangers all looked to each other. This all sounded way too familiar to be a mere coincidence. "Say, do any of you have a picture of this guy?"

"Try in that paper you're holding." One of the patrons told him. Chase just looked to the newspaper his mom had sent him.

"Wait...there's a picture of him in here?" Tyler asked. "Chase, you didn't tell us..."

"Are you seriously saying you only read the FRONT PAGE?" Shelby asked him. Chase just sighed.

"Well, it's not like any of you guys thought to read the whole thing either is it?" He replied as he started to flick through the pages. He eventually found a picture and showed it to the others. It was taken from a security camera in a bank that had been robbed a couple of weeks previously. There, plain to see, was a Dino Charge Ranger. They all looked to each other and smiled.

"Bingo!" They chorused. Before they could do anything else though, they heard a commotion from a little way off.

"Hey, that's my bike!" A teenage girl called out. The Rangers all turned in time to see a guy riding off on a bicycle, discarding a set of bolt cutters as he went. "He just stole my bike!"

"We get back!" Koda told her as the Rangers headed off in hot pursuit.

They ran a couple of blocks, but they were sure if they didn't catch him soon, they would never catch him. All it would take is for him to get onto a straight stretch and he would leave them behind with ease. They reached a corner, hearing a loud crash and a yell. As they got around the corner, they all stood, amazed by what they saw.

The bike was on the ground, and the thief was lying on the ground. Kneeling on his back, tying him up was the Purple Ranger.

"There you go! That should teach you to take things that don't belong to you!" The Purple Ranger said to the bike thief. He just grunted as he struggled to get free. "Don't waste your breath! The police will have plenty of questions. I'm certain this isn't the only thing you've taken that isn't yours!"

"Hey, you!" Tyler called out. The Purple Ranger just looked up. "Purple Ranger!"

"What did you call...?" He started to ask, before seeing some police heading his way. "Oh, time I was going I think!"

"Hey, wait!" Shelby called out as he got up and started to run. "Come back!"

"Yeah, we only want to talk!" Riley added as they ran after him. "Come back!"


	5. Purple Revealed

The Rangers ran through the streets of Auckland, in hot pursuit of the Purple Ranger. They had known that someone had bonded to the Purple Energem, but to actually SEE the Purple Ranger was still something of a surprise. They knew that there were certain things that seemed to come naturally to them once the Energems bonded. They all got stronger, they all became faster, they started to gain heightened senses and instincts related to their individual dinosaur spirits. Thanks to Shelby, Tyler and even Phillipe, they also knew it was possible to morph without being taught how. It was the only explanation how the Purple Ranger had appeared. It was even possible to summon their weapons without even knowing they existed...Riley had summoned his sword when he first got his Energem, even before his first morph. However, this guy had also managed to BOTH!

Ms Morgan had worked hard to make new weapons technology that was compatible with their Energem power, that could be summoned in time of need. The Rangers were all well briefed on their weapons. How to summon them, and more importantly, had trained extensively in how to use them. They knew that there were certain instincts that the Energems looked for in those they bonded to. All of them had bonded to their Energems after performing acts of heroism that proved they were worthy of that power. They also knew that the Energems came with certain instincts. Even those of them who had not been trained fighters before they bonded had a certain level of instinct likely taken from their Dinosaur Spirits. However, that didn't mean they didn't train to know how to wield such power safely. Whoever had bonded to the Purple Energem though had all that power, but there was no way to know how much they understood the dangerous nature of the power any more than a novice understood the dangers of a loaded gun.

"Man this guy can move!" Riley commented as he vaulted over a guard rail, following the purple clad stranger. "Can we...?"

"We still can't risk morphing, too many people around!" Tyler reminded him.

"That might not be too much of a problem much longer." Chase said as they saw the tell-tale signs of screams and people running away. He got on his communicator. "Ms Morgan? It looks like Fury might be in the area. We're going to need you to work your magic!"

"I'm triangulating your position from your communicators." Kendall said wearily.

"Did...did I just wake you up?" Chase asked.

"Don't worry; I took the precaution of sleeping in the lab." She told him. "I needed to account for the time difference."

"Well, we're probably going to need to morph soon." Tyler answered. She worked as quickly as she could.

"I'm getting into the city grid, isolating any surveillance in the area...that should do it!" She responded.

"Alright, here we go." Tyler answered. "Unleash the Power!"

A little way off though, the Purple Ranger, or Violet Avenger as the locals had come to know him, had run into more than a little trouble. He was no stranger to being chased. He was technically a vigilante, and so he had been pursued from the scene of crimes by police before. A few reporters and people with camera phones tried their luck as well, even before the aliens showed up. However, these kids that were following him seemed different somehow. Most gave up the chase after a couple of blocks. They were keeping remarkably good pace though.

He got to an area of the waterfront, only to find once again that the strange cat-creature was there, together with the seaweed things that followed him around. He skidded to a halt.

"Not YOU again!" He protested. Fury just smiled.

"Yes, me again!" He responded. The Purple Ranger was about to start running, when a flaming rock smashed into the ground a little way from him. He was thrown to the ground by the impact. He looked up to see another monster standing a little away from him. "No, I am SICK of this wild goose chase! That's why I brought my friend Meteor here!"

The Purple Ranger looked across to where the other monster was standing. Underneath him, between his feet, a couple of kids were cowering in his grip.

"Meteor here has a unique gift. He can cause meteor showers that can cause untold destruction. It wouldn't be the first planet he's carpet-bombed into oblivion."

"Those children..."

"They're just a little incentive for you to stick around." Fury told him. "If you run, Meteor melts your precious city...beginning with these precious little darlings!"

The Purple Ranger knew he was overmatched. He knew that these monsters were far more powerful than him. However, now he knew he couldn't take the chance of running. This Meteor had destroyed a large part of the street without even trying. He couldn't let the kids, or his city pay the price if he ran. He got to his feet.

"Let the kids go. I won't run, I swear it!" The Purple Ranger told him. Fury just gestured to Meteor to release them. He still had the whole city as hostages if the Purple Ranger went back on his word. The kids ran off, leaving them alone. "Now, how about you save the city, and yourself by handing over your Energem?"

"If you want it, why don't you try taking it from him?" Tyler declared as the Rangers arrived on the scene. They positioned themselves between the Purple Ranger and Fury's forces. "Are you alright?"

"You...those costumes...you're just like me!" He responded. "Who are you?"

"We'll explain, we promise!" Chase told him. "First, we have to take care of these guys..."

"We can't!" The Purple Ranger called out. "That monster will destroy..."

"He's not going to destroy the city while he's STANDING IN IT!" Shelby responded as Fury ordered the Viviks forward. The Rangers charged into battle. "If you really want to get rid of these guys, now's the time!"

Back in the States, Phillipe arrived back in the Embassy, coming into a private parlour with Margaret. He threw his coat onto a coat hook by the door and made his way to a chair, slumping down into it.

"I swear to GOD, if I ever meet the man who invented golf, I am going to extradite him to Zandar and have him tried for crimes against humanity." He grumbled. Margaret just sniggered a little, fetching him a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Surely it can't have been THAT bad." She chuckled. Phillipe just looked to her.

"Are you kidding?" He asked in response. "That man can't hit a straight drive to save his life! I needed to put my ball into the water trap three times to keep my score high enough..."

"You know, you don't ALWAYS have to lose to impress people." She reminded him. "Perhaps he'd have respected it if you actually won fair and square."

"The man argued with the caddy for forty minutes on the sixteenth hole to change his score card! He managed to accomplish seven 'practice' strokes on a par 3! He refused to let the poor boy do his job until he cut out half his strokes from his score card! I normally don't mind a healthy sense of competition, but I have a feeling if I'd won he'd be appealing to have me deported!" Phillipe responded.

"So...he's kind of a jerk?" She asked.

"If you think that's bad, not only did I have to throw the most embarrassingly one-sided game of golf since the game's invention, he had a few DOZEN too many martinis at the nineteenth hole, then as we were leaving he yelled at some guys who turned up to the club for a game only to be told the club was closed for us." Phillipe told her. "I swear, the clip's probably already all over YouTube."

"Still, at least you..."

"Oh, the worst part of it is we didn't get to even discuss the traffic issues around the Embassy." Phillipe told her. "Oh, well...sorry, we did 'discuss' it, or at least his very interesting interpretation of a discussion. He just muttered something about it not being in the budget, and then took the first of thirteen swings on the first hole!"

"So...not the most productive day then." Margaret suggested. He just sighed.

"You could say that." He replied, taking a sip. He felt his face a little tight, and pressed his fingers to it. "Damn it all, now I think I have sunburn."

"I told you to wear sun screen." She responded in exasperation. "I'll go and get some after-sun lotion."

As she left to get the lotion, Phillipe went to his computer and started to answer some e-mails. He was still getting used to the fact that any time he was away from his computer for more than an hour, he'd come back to dozens of e-mails. He started to cycle through them, checking them for any new business he needed to attend to. While he was still new to his post, and so it would likely be a while before he was invited to anything hugely important, since many were still no doubt trying to figure out if they should take an ambassador from a nation of less than a hundred thousand people seriously. He did however have plenty of people making inquiries and sending in comments.

"Watkins Ice Cream? Do I even know a Watkin's Ice Creams?" He asked, before opening the e-mails. He just read through a long complaint concerning the fact that the whole golf course had been closed for the day, and so he was forced to delay an important business function. "You think you had a bad day Mr Watkins? At least you didn't have to play the man."

As he started to type out a quick apology, Margaret came back into the room with the lotion. As he answered his e-mails, she started to rub some into his cheeks and forehead.

"More e-mails?" She asked him.

"Appeasing some of the locals." He told her. "It appears a few people weren't best pleased about the golf course being closed."

"So you're doing more to appease his constituents than he is?" She asked him. He just shrugged in response.

"I think of it as playing nice with the new neighbours." He replied as he tried to think. "What do you think would be an appropriate gift for an ice cream merchant?"

"Ice-cream merchant?" She asked.

"Yes, apparently some man that owns an ice cream business was meant to take some clients onto the golf course today. He isn't best pleased he had to delay that." Phillipe said, thinking about it. "Perhaps I could invite him and his clients to dinner? Perhaps that place down the street..."

"Watkins Ice Creams is a LITTLE more than an ice cream parlour." She informed him. "It's a nationwide business. They make those ice cream bars you like."

"Really?" He asked her.

"The business is worth an estimated 6.2 million dollars per annum." She informed him. "Why do you think he can afford a Platinum membership to the golf course?"

"Right, so something a little more up-scale than the steak-house." He responded. "I know, I could invite them here! I'm certain Henri would be able to come up with something appropriate!"

"That's a little more like it." She said with a smile. "But I think we can do a little better. You know he wants to take them for golf. I'm sure they'd appreciate having a dignitary there."

"I think I've had enough of golf for one lifetime." He grumbled, taking off his shirt. "Would you mind getting my neck?"

"I'm sure one day out of your schedule wouldn't hurt." She answered, rubbing some of the lotion down into his neck. She gulped as she did so, making sure she rubbed it in properly. She was quiet for a moment as she did so, her mind going into that place that she found it going to on occasion when she thought about him. She suddenly realised that she hadn't said anything in a while as her hands started to stray down towards his shoulders. She pulled away.

"I suppose not. It's not like congress has much for me to do lately." He commented. He noticed her hands suddenly pulling away. "Margaret?"

"I...um...I just realised there's something I need to...um..." She started to stammer, handing him the ointment. "I just need to...um...see about..." Phillipe watched her leave the room, before shrugging his shoulders and returning to his e-mail.

"He has a membership; he can play golf any time." Phillipe thought aloud. "I wonder how he and his clients would feel about dry slope skiing?"

Back in New Zealand, the Rangers were embroiled in battle with the remnants of Fury's forces. True to their assertion, Meteor was reluctant to call down any major destruction while he was in the middle of the blast zone. This gave them the perfect opportunity to whittle down the numbers and drive them off their new ally.

Ivan had brought down some Viviks when he noticed that the Purple Ranger was on the ground, scurrying away from Fury as he advanced on him. He rushed over, powering up his Ptera Sabre with three Energems.

"You've led me on quite a chase weakling!" Fury growled as he brought his sword overhead. "But now you've run out of places to run and hide!"

"Not so fast you feline fiend!" Ivan declared as he flipped over Fury's head blocking his attack as his blade powered up. Fury's eyes widened as he saw this. He had felt the sting of Ivan's power more than once.

"Oh no..."

"Oh yes!" Ivan responded abruptly, swinging around and smashing Fury away. He reached out a hand for the Purple Ranger to help him up, never taking his eyes off Fury. "Glad I could help, my violet..."

His words tailed off as he noticed no one grabbing his hand. He looked around, only to find that the Purple Ranger was nowhere in sight! He looked around curiously.

"...friend?"

"Ivan, they're on the ropes!" Chase stated. "Get your shiny arse over here!"

Ivan powered up his blade again as the Rangers all powered up their blasters.

"Dino Morpher BLAST!" They called out, firing their rounds, utterly destroying the last of the viviks, and knocking down Fury and Meteor. By the time the smoke was clearing, all they could see was a landing pod speeding away.

"Damn it, they got away!" Tyler exclaimed.

"Well, our objective was to save the Purple Guy." Riley reminded them as they all started to look around. "Speaking of which...has anyone seen where he went?"

"Oh...Over here!" The Purple Ranger called out as he stood up from behind a nearby bench. They all started to approach him. "I'm sorry, I was just...ah...checking that none of those monsters were still hanging around. I was going to give them what for, I can tell you!"

"I'm perfectly certain." Ivan responded, sounding somewhat less than convinced as he looked to the others. They all de-morphed, revealing themselves to the Purple Ranger.

"Well, the city's safe for now." Shelby told him. "That's why we work in a team usually. It's a lot safer."

"Well, I don't mean to brag, but...I've been at this for something of a while now..." He started to say as a thought occurred to him. "Wait a minute, I know you!"

For the first time, he de-morphed, changing back into his original form. The Rangers were stunned to see a startlingly familiar face standing before them.

"You're the kids that were looking for that thing!" Albert said as he pointed in the direction the ship had flown. The Rangers all stood, staring in disbelief.

"ALBERT?" They all chorused together. Tyler's face lit up as he came to Albert's side, putting his arm around him.

"Excellent!" He called out, holding him closely. As he looked to the others, their reactions were all a little different. Shelby and Koda smiled, glad to see that Albert was safe, and that they had found their new Purple Ranger. Chase was a little more hesitant, his arms crossed over his body, but he was smiling, indicating that he was at least willing to hear how Albert had come into his powers. Riley and Ivan though...

"Wait, YOU'RE a Power Ranger?" Riley asked, pointing at the old tour guide, his tone doing nothing to hide his feelings on the matter. When they had met Albert before, Riley was the first one to say that they should just find out what they needed to and get the hell out of his camp. All he could see was the crazy old cook that spent all day ripping off gullible tourists who believed his wild tales.

"Power Ranger? Is that what I am?" He asked, placing his hands on his chest, before starting to laugh. "HAH! I thought all that was done with those pirate ones that liberated the world a while back!"

"Wait, you don't know what a Power Ranger IS?" Riley asked. "I thought there was a TV show filmed here."

"Yeah, but it doesn't actually air here." Chase told him. "I first found out about Rangers thanks to the Corsairs too."

"So they film a show that doesn't even air here?" Shelby asked him. Chase nodded and sighed.

"It used to, until some whacked out parent's groups objected to the violence in it." He replied. "Trust me; the irony isn't lost on me."

"So, I'm an actual Power Ranger?" Albert asked again, looking delighted. "I...I can't believe it!"

"Come on Albert, we've got a lot to discuss." Shelby told him. "But let's get somewhere quiet. Your camp should do."

"I'll bet you have all sorts of questions. I know I certainly do!" Albert answered as they started to lead him away. Riley and Ivan hung back for a moment. Riley could see the look on Ivan's face and could tell he was as sceptical as he was.

"So...Albert huh?" He asked.

"Quite." Ivan responded curtly. While Riley was thinking about Albert's wild and eccentric habits, there was one thing playing on Ivan's mind.

"I'm guessing you're not happy about this either?" Riley asked. Ivan just nodded.

"Albert disappeared, only to show up when the fighting was done." Ivan told him. "I met many of his kind in my day."

"What type is that?" Riley asked him.

"The ones you'd meet in the tavern before a quest. They would have wild and fantastic tales of their exploits and victories, and yet they were always strangely absent when there was fighting to be done." Ivan told him matter-of-factly. "They would always then turn up again when it was time to head for home."

"So you think he's a blowhard?" Riley asked him. Ivan just looked to him.

"I've met many like him." Ivan said, looking in the direction the others were taking Albert. "They were usually the ones that got a party killed."


	6. Albert's Tale

In Amber Beach, Alessandra was taking a little break from her workout, taking a seat on a multi-gym that wasn't in use while she caught her breath. She was working hard to return to her best after her injury. It wasn't too long ago that she had been put on the shelf by Vinnie's irresponsible and petulant behaviour in their match. It didn't help that one of the opponents that had been lined up for her was a big name on the circuit. Ricochet had worked all over the world, and the word on the scene was that he was already being courted by a number of the big companies. It was always a privilege to work with big names and talented workers, but when it was someone who was already under the microscope of the big leagues, that meant the scouts were keeping a very close eye on all their matches...and that meant anyone they worked with had a real opportunity to be seen!

She was fortunate enough that Carl had managed to get her a part on a small show in a couple of days. It was one thing getting her strength back, but for a match that could easily get her seen by some talent scouts, she needed to be sure she would put on the best performance she possibly could. Chances like this didn't come around very often.

It was a little unfortunate that Koda was out of town. He had called to say that he was needed in the field urgently, and had to leave so quickly he hadn't been able to see her in person. She was a little disappointed that he wouldn't be there to support her in her first match back since the injury, but he had explained that sometimes they would need to leave quickly if news of a find came to them. It was a little upsetting to know, but she didn't really think she could complain since she knew that she was never certain when a booking would take her out of the state at short notice.

"You trying to call him again?" Jack teased her from a corner, where he was teaching one of the younger trainees the finer points of a sleeper hold. You already tried four times! He only left this morning."

"I miss." She told him with a little smile. Jack just sighed.

"Well when you DO get through to him, try to tell him to get his arse back here quick smart." Jack told her. "It's not every day someone gets a chance like we're giving him. If he wants it..."

"He be there." Alessandra sighed, looking to him. "Koda promise. He always keep promise."

She lit up as her phone finally started ringing. Before, for some reason her signal hadn't been able to get through. She had to admit that her phone wasn't the best thing on the market, just what she could afford on her variable income. Eventually, there was a response on the other end.

"Alessandra?" Koda asked. She could hardly contain her joy hearing his voice.

"You not answer when I call before, my call no get through." She said as she finally got an answer.

"Are I in...bad reception." Koda said, remembering the line his friends told him to use. It was something of an "unregistered feature" of the Zords. While the Rangers were inside, their cell phones wouldn't get a signal. While cell phones hadn't existed when the power of the Energems created the Zords, Kendall had hypothesised that they had a kind of psychic defence to try and ward off any signals that may attempt to affect their minds or control them. It wasn't easy to find a way to create communicators that would work within the Zords, but it was one of the early stumbling blocks. Communication in battle was the key to a number of their victories. "How you feel?"

"Tired, I train very hard." She told him. "How you? You find many dinosaurs?"

"Not yet." He told her.

"When you be back?" She asked him. "I miss you."

"I miss too." Koda told her. Just then, her phone started bleeping. She furrowed her brows at the warning.

"Koda, get warning." She told him. His response was cut off before he could answer. "Koda, KODA!"

"You have insufficient credit to complete this call." The automated voice told her. She just stared at her phone in disbelief.

"You done there?" Jack asked her.

"I get cut off." Alessandra told him, checking the credit on her phone. Due to the fact she could never tell from one month to the next exactly how much she would earn, she didn't have a network contract, she used pre-paid credit on a burner phone. She checked, and indeed she didn't have credit. That was to say, she only had a few cents worth of credit on her phone. "I run out of credit."

"Well, I guess that's a lesson in topping up regularly." Jack responded. "Now, if you're done sitting around, could you PLEASE show this muppet how to perform a sunset flip? If he lands on his head one more time he's going to have brains spilling out his ears!"

"I top up two days ago." Alessandra whispered to herself as she furrowed her brows. She always had some credit on her phone, it was important she was able to call back any bookers that tried to contact her. She had put twenty dollars on her phone. How could she have run that out so quickly?

"Alessandra, will you help this kid or not?" Jack asked her. She just sighed and put her phone away, returning to help Jack train the young trainee. It was a puzzle that would have to wait.

In New Zealand, Koda hung up the phone reluctantly. Chase could see the expression on his face.

"Everything alright mate?" He asked.

"Alessandra, call cut off." Koda told him. "I really miss."

"Look, we'll be heading back soon. You won't be away from her too long." Chase reminded him. "Come on, we need to talk to the new guy."

"He not that new." Koda grunted. Chase just chuckled.

"So says the guy that's older than him by about a hundred thousand years." He reminded him as they headed back to the man camp.

They had returned to Albert's shack out in the woods to discuss how to proceed now that they had found the Purple Energem, and the one it had bonded to. They had known that they were going to New Zealand looking for another Ranger. They didn't really know what to expect when they got there. While they knew that courage was something they valued, no one really knew EXACTLY what each of the Energems was looking for in its host. So far they had a knight, a cave man, a Prince and a farm kid in their line-up. Sometimes the choice was obvious, like when Ivan laid down his life to protect an ungrateful and ignorant prince. Other times, the choice wasn't quite so obvious.

"The giant squid was tearing the ship apart! With all the crushing it was already only half the width of when it started!" Albert relayed one of his stories. Chase and Koda could see the expressions on the faces of the others, and see they were all struggling not to laugh at the wild tales. Even Tyler, the one who had defended Albert the most, clearly was having a little difficulty with the story.

"Really? It had already crushed the ship that much, and it hadn't sunk yet?" Riley replied.

"Well...it sank eventually; I couldn't stop that, that's why you don't see it here among my souvenirs." Albert said in an off-hand way. Riley coughed but the word 'convenient' seemed to escape his lips as he did so. Albert either didn't notice, or didn't pay it any mind. "That's when I realised I had no choice and dove right in to fend it off!"

"So it was strong enough to destroy a ship, and yet you fought it off with your bare hands...before you even had the Energem?" Ivan asked him, leaning his chin on his hand. It was like the time he had heard an old man in his local tavern bragging about the almighty sword he had created in his forge, that could cut through four fully armoured knights in a single stroke. The man had ended up being cut down when someone tested that theory, only to find that the sword was nothing more than a cheap, pig-iron blade that shattered the moment he tried to block an incoming attack. "You are bold indeed."

"Energem, is that what you call this?" He asked, pulling out the Purple Energem. Everyone stopped laughing and their faces became a lot more serious. It wasn't clear whether Albert was genuinely completely out of touch with reality, or if he was just a liar, but the one thing that seemed consistent is that his own words were not reliable on their own. The only part of his wild tales they could verify with anything other than his words was that he had indeed found and bonded to an Energem.

"Yes, that is an Energem." Ivan interjected. He didn't really know what experience the others had with those who peddled in tall tales, but he did know that it was different from his day. In this day and age everyone had cell phones with internet access which meant if they were unsure they could call someone on their bullshit with a ten second Boogle search...or Goggle or...whatever it was, they could search their interweb and find the truth very quickly and easily. In his day, it was important to simply have very good instincts to tell by someone's behaviour and the way they said things if they could be trusted. The man with the pig-iron sword would likely attest to that if he hadn't been cut in half! "It holds power beyond your imagining."

"Oh, I don't doubt it! I broke up a bank robbery once. Ran in without thinking if the man might be armed! I took a shotgun...right here!" He said, recalling his tale as he pointed to his chest. "By the following morning, I didn't have so much as a bruise!"

Riley nudged Ivan under the table and showed him his I-phone below its surface. He had called up the story. There was indeed video evidence of the 'Violet Avenger' being shot in one of his exploits, only to get back up and take the crook down. Riley looked to Albert.

"Well, those space ships you've been seeing belong to those monsters we fought." He explained.

"So Albert, how did you get the Energem anyway?" Shelby asked him.

"Oh, well that was down to Wendy." He told them. They all just looked puzzled. "Wendy is a little girl, belongs to a couple of my friends, she's around here all the time! He's a very spirited little thing, always getting into all kinds of trouble. She's an adventurous little thing, but she never seems to think things through and ends up in all sorts of scrapes."

"Yeah, I wonder why she likes it around here so much." Riley whispered to Ivan. The knight just nodded, agreeing that she probably just got overly excited by the old man's wild tales and looked for adventure herself, even if she was too young to realise the danger she could put herself in out in the wilderness.

"She went up those mountains there looking for Bigfoot." He explained, pointing to some mountains a little way off. "Lord knows why, everyone knows Bigfoot prefer lower ground, especially in winter. It's far too cold up there...she got caught in a massive blizzard. The local rescue teams called off the search, but I know these mountains like the back of my hand. I went after her."

"You went up there, after a little girl...in the middle of winter?" Chase asked him. The others all looked to him. "It's not sunny all the time; in winter it gets really cold...New Zealand has some amazing snow-boarding."

"Well, I just packed my bag and went right on up there after her!" Albert told them as he thought about that day. "When I found her, she was alive, but only barely. Poor little thing was frozen, she'd passed out...if I had got there any later she'd never have made it. But when I was wrapping her up to take her down, wondering how I was ever going to get her all the way down that mountain by myself, that's when I saw it."

"The Energem was up a mountain?" Shelby asked. This part of the story didn't seem to make much sense. The Purple Energem was inhabited by the spirit of a Plesiosaur, which was a water-lizard. Generally, Energems were found in the remains of the dinosaurs that had been bonded to them. She just started trying to think. "Maybe with some tectonic plate shifts and..."

"No, that's the thing; it wasn't even on the mountain!" Albert informed them. "I just saw an intense purple light erupting from that lake, right over there!"

They all followed his arm as he pointed.

"The next thing I know, this thing flew right into my hand!" Albert told them. "It was strange, I felt an intense rush...I started seeing images of Tanifa. Next thing I know, I feel stronger than I've ever felt! I barely even remember the journey down the mountain, but I carried Wendy in my arms, barely feeling a thing, and before I knew it, we were back down on the ground! I hadn't felt so amazing...well...ever!"

"So, you found the Energem, and you've been using it to help people ever since." Tyler surmised.

"Well, yes." He replied. "I started off small, purse snatchers and bike thieves, but then I started getting into some more serious situations. Before I knew it, I was in all the papers. Aukland's answer to Batman they said...whatever that is."

"Well, now you're in a much more serious game." Ivan told him. "Those creatures, the ones that want that Energem won't stop until they get it, and they'll go through anyone they have to in the process."

"You mean...I'm the reason they're even here?" Albert asked, looking horrified. Riley pointed to the Energem in his hand.

"They want to steal that Energem and use it for evil." He explained. "With that powering their weapons, there's no telling what they could do."

"I just wanted to do good deeds for my town!" Albert told them, staring at the Energem in his hand, his voice losing a lot of its usual bluster. "I had no idea it would bring this kind of trouble."

"Albert, we're a team for a reason. Any one of us on our own could be picked off. It's a bloody miracle you haven't been already." Chase assured him. "I'm a kiwi too. You don't know how much I miss it. But the safest thing you could do would be to come with us."

"Come with...you mean leave New Zealand?" He asked.

"If you come with us, then there'll be nothing here for Fury and his friends." Shelby explained to him, seeing the thought of leaving was unsettling for him. The camp might not have looked like much, but it was clear it was home for the old man. "They'll lose interest and follow us."

"I've...I've never even left the North Islands." He stammered. Tyler put his arm around him, holding him tightly.

"Well, think about it this way! When you got that Energem all you wanted was to do good deeds for Aukland." He reminded him excitedly. "Now you get to do good deeds for the entire world!" Albert forced a smile.

"Yes, that sounds like a grand adventure!" He concluded, looking at the Energem as his voice tailed off. "A grand adventure indeed."

Meanwhile, back at the theatre, Fury and Meteor had returned, and were in a foul mood given the recent arrival of the Rangers. They had hoped that they would be able to get the Purple Energem before the Rangers would even realise it had been found. Now that they were also here in New Zealand, matters had been complicated further.

"I take it you still don't have a Purple Energem?" Wrench asked them. Fury just grabbed him, slamming him against a wall.

"At least I'm actually doing something productive!" He yelled at him. "The rest of the Rangers are here!"

"Really? You didn't foresee that coming?" Wrench asked him sarcastically as Fury gripped his throat...or at least where his throat SHOULD be. One thing that Fury never factored in when he was threatening Wrench was that he was now a cyborg. Choking him didn't really work considering his neck was now armoured metal as opposed to a squishy, fleshy windpipe like it was in other creatures. "That blonde scientist of theirs may only be human, but she isn't a complete mush-brained primitive."

"I believe her creations have defeated yours a few times." Fury said, releasing Wrench. "What's your record again?"

"Anyway, that's why I haven't exactly been doing nothing here." Wrench told him. "And now, it's finally ready!"

"I'll believe that when I see it." Fury responded. Rather than continue with some childish verbal sparring, Wrench just activated his reanimation device, putting in a couple of samples. Fury just stood and watched.

"So, will we need a mop this time?" He asked. However, he came up off the wall he was leaning on as he saw some shapes starting to glow and appear. Before long, there were screams, but it wasn't like the screams he had heard before, the anguished screams of a creature only barely with the self-awareness to know it was suffering, but actual creatures. Wrench turned off the power as the two creatures appeared, and collapsed onto their knees, smoke rising from them. Wrench came over to them and hauled them up.

"I believe you have already met Ice-Age and Stingrage?" He asked. Fury just came over, looking to both creatures as he inspected Wrench's work. It was remarkable. Both creatures had been completely destroyed by the Rangers, both before his very eyes. Yet, with a few DNA samples from their remains, Wrench had actually managed to clone them. Fury smiled.

"I apologise Wrench, you haven't been wasting your time after all." Fury responded as he stood before the creatures. "Now, tell me, how would you like revenge on the ones that killed you?"

Back in Amber Beach, Alessandra had finally gotten back to her cheap motel room, after picking up some more credit on her phone. However she was still puzzled by how she had managed to run out her credit so quickly. It wasn't as though she was calling a lot of people, it had only been two days, and in that time she'd had a short conversation with a booker, and her call to Koda that had been cut off.

She cursed in her native tongue as she was forced to endure the on-hold music, thankful that customer service was a toll-free number. She'd been on hold for quite some time. Eventually, she got through.

"Customer Service, how may I help you?" The woman asked.

"You rip me off!" She yelled down the phone.

"Please calm down madam..."

"I buy credit two days ago!" She protested.

"I can see that madam, but your credit ran out." The lady said matter-of-factly.

"HOW?" Alessandra demanded. "I only make two calls!"

"Yes, I can see that here, one to an AT&T number registered to San Francisco..."

"Yes, and one to my boyfriend!" Alessandra snapped. The operator tapped a few keys.

"Yes madam, and with international connection charges..."

"In...international conn..." She stammered, trying to get her head around what she was being told. She knew Koda was going on a trip, but now she was told he had left the country? "International Connection?"

"Yes, with the international connection fee, the cost per minute..."

"I...where I call?" Alessandra asked her. The operator just sighed and checked the screen.

"The cell phone number you called is showing as being traced to New Zealand." The operator told her. "If you are likely to make many international calls, we have a range of packages..."

Alessandra had heard enough though and just hung up. She was completely confused. Koda had told her he was going out of town, but she imagined that meant he was leaving the city, possibly even the state. He certainly hadn't told her he was leaving the country!

"New Zealand?" She asked. "Why Koda go New Zealand?"

She then checked the time on her phone, and another thought occurred to her. The cell phone company had said he was IN New Zealand. He had only called her the day before to tell her he was leaving. She had never been herself, but she knew from others that flights to New Zealand generally took the better part of a full day. He could only have been gone a few hours before she had called him. How did he get there so fast?


	7. Albert's Audition

The next morning, Allison had a little bit of a spring in her step as she headed to the Dino Bite cafe for work. It wasn't like she was especially ambitious, that much she had openly said herself...unless her skateboarding took of that was. No, she had even mocked those that were focused on their careers. She knew that some people did genuinely like their jobs and took real joy in them, to which her attitude had simply been. 'good for them'. However, there seemed to be an awful lot of people that cared way too much about jobs they clearly hated. They would work long hours, long weeks, complain endlessly about skipping days off or working extra hours for no pay...and then do it anyway! It just seemed somewhat nonsensical to her, she had been much happier to just do her shift, go home and collect her cheque at the end of the month.

Being asked to become a supervisor was something that she would never have seen happening, or even caring about. The extra responsibilities, the hassle of dealing with other employee complaints, dealing with customers who seemed unwilling to speak to the staff lower down the chain, doing rotas, keeping everyone happy with their time off, balancing the day's takings...it all sounded like a lot of hassle to her that she could live without. It definitely didn't seem like it was going to be worth it for an extra couple of dollars on her pay each month. Still, there was another factor in it. She'd never felt like what she did mattered. After all, who cared if someone got two or three onion rings on their burger?

She had, however, stepped up a lot in her job in the Dino Bite. Her last job, she would never argue her boss was right to fire her. Not only had she spent more time on her iPhone or flirting with hot guys than doing her job, she'd cost an entire dining room full of customers to walk out without paying without even noticing because she was too busy talking to Chase. Hell, even when she started at the Dino Bite, she had felt like it was just another crappy job that gave her the money she needed to keep up her skateboarding, which admittedly could get expensive, especially when some of her gear gave out just before a competition. However, since she had found out the truth about what her friends really did, what Chase really did, she had changed her opinion on it all completely.

For a while it was irritating. The number of times she had been left behind when everyone ran off at a moment's notice, but since stumbling on the Dino Lab, she had been included in the secret, and knew how important what they did was. It wasn't as though she could really help them much in battle. Even with powers, she had been in a total of one fight in her entire life with her little cousin who took exception to her playing his video game, and had been handed an embarrassing defeat. No eight year old wanted to admit being handed their ass by a five year old! However, she quickly realised the museum didn't simply stop running just because the most experienced staff members weren't there. Customers still wanted served in the cafe, people still needed to be directed to the exhibits, and most importantly...someone still had to ensure people paid and didn't just walk out when no one was looking!

The work was still tedious, and the customers could still be just as annoying, but now she wasn't just dealing with all that for a low wage, she was doing it to help the Rangers battle the forces of evil! Sure, it might not mean wearing the cool spandex or riding around in a massive robot dinosaur, but she was doing something to help. She actually found herself caring about the job, and before she knew it, she had indeed done extra hours and extra shifts. She was doing things that were outside of her areas of responsibility. She'd changed around rotas; she'd arranged additional help when needed. None of this had gone unnoticed, which was why Kendall had asked if she wouldn't mind lightening the load on her a little by taking on those responsibilities on a full time basis.

She had often mocked supervisors. Like any line employee who had found herself with a supervisor that rubbed her the wrong way or seemed to think what he was doing was life and death, she had found herself flipping them off or saying things behind their back. As she approached the door with her new supervisor's badge though, she found the morning shift waiting for her.

"Do you have Ms Morgan's number?" Brad, one of the part-timers asked her. "The doors are still locked."

"I can go one better, I have the key." She replied, pulling out her key and unlocking the door. The staff just looked a little surprised.

"Why do YOU have a key?" Erica, one of the others asked. Allison just looked to them.

"Ms Morgan gave it to me." She explained. "I'm your new supervisor!"

After staring at her blankly for a few moments, they burst out laughing. Brad approached her.

"No, seriously, why do you have a key?" He asked her. She just showed him her name badge.

"I'm serious!" She protested. They all inspected it, before Brad shrugged.

"Alright then, lead the way boss!" He told her. As Allison headed inside, Erica pulled in closer.

"She's now a supervisor?" She asked. "How the hell did that happen?"

"Who cares? Just look on the bright side!" He said in response. "We know her, it's not like she brought in some jackass with jack-boots and an ego. This could be the best thing that ever happened!"

Back in New Zealand, the Rangers had started working early in the morning to create an assault course. Having found Albert, they were keen to carry on with their quest, knowing that they would likely find his Zord close to where he had gained his Energem, however after a little discussion, a few concerns had been raised. While Tyler was all for the new Ranger, and wanted to get right back to the adventure, some of the others were having more than a little bit of a hard time taking him seriously. His amazing stories and questionable accounts of his exploits really didn't lend much credibility, while Ivan and Riley had also pointed out that in the only battle they had been a part of with him, none of them had seen him actually fight. There had been a bit of an argument about the matter, but eventually Tyler had relented, knowing that the others had to be able to rely on Albert. They might find their lives depending on him one day, and so he had agreed to let them 'audition' the new arrival.

"There, that should just about do it." Ivan said, tightening the last rope on a cargo net obstacle. They had figured that the safest and fairest way to check on Albert's suitability for the role was to ensure he could keep up with them on a simple training run. All of them had been fighting monsters for some time, and a lot of them had experience beyond that. Tyler had relented, knowing that the others had to be able to rely on Albert. They might find their lives depending on him one day, and so he had agreed to let them 'audition' the new arrival.

"You don't think this is a bit...you know...much?" Riley asked him. "I mean, the guy's not exactly a spring chicken. He's older than my grandpa...and he died ten years ago."

"Sir Riley, your charity is noble." Ivan said as he looked to his former squire. "However, you must consider that this man may well one day have our lives in his hands. If he cannot handle a mere assault course, do you really want to place your life in his hands?"

Riley just shrugged.

"I guess not." He sighed. "I already talked to Keeper. Apparently he can unbond someone from an Energem. It takes a lot out of him, but it can be done."

"I would rather that than risk the consequences of we don't." Ivan replied. Just then, Shelby arrived beside them.

"So, are you two ready?" She asked them.

"I'm sure this should be a suitable test." Ivan told her. As they headed for the start line, Tyler, Koda and Chase were already waiting with Albert. He was wearing a purple tracksuit that looked like it was older than some members of the team.

"I have to admit, it's been some time since I've worn this." He told them. "These things aren't too warm up the mountains."

"Well, we should be fine down here, and the flexibility should help." Tyler said as they lined up. "Don't worry if you can't keep up. Just do your best."

Albert didn't say anything, instead just standing on the start line. The Rangers all lined up alongside him.

"Alright, on your marks, get set...GO!" Chase said, at which all the Rangers took off, running towards the first obstacle, a high, a-shaped cargo net obstacle. They were all clambering up the net, heading towards the top. It was only as he got to the top, straddling it, that Riley looked back, noticing that Albert was standing, perfectly still, his arms crossed over his chest. He just sighed and shook his head.

"Figures." He muttered to himself. "ALBERT!"

"Albert?" Shelby asked as they turned to notice the same thing.

"Come on Albert." Tyler beckoned him. "Please, don't worry if you can't keep up. Just try to..."

"Keep up?" Albert chuckled. "I just wanted to give you a head start!"

With that, he rushed for the net, and launched himself up it, barrelling past the Rangers, before flicking himself nimbly over the apex and kind of rolling down the other side, before sprinting to the next obstacle, a balance beam that was made from a felled tree, rocketing across it without even breaking pace, negotiating it as easily as open ground! The others just blinked as they witnessed this.

"...finish the course." Tyler concluded, as the Rangers all started to climb over the net, already trailing him by a significant way.

"That's...quite impressive!" Chase stammered.

"Come on!" Riley said as he finally got to the bottom of the net and started running after the Purple Ranger.

In Amber Beach, Phillipe was in his gym, working on a heavy bag. He had been lucky so far; it seemed that Sledge wasn't pressing the advantage while most of the team was in New Zealand. That said, Phillipe was determined not to take any chances either. Just because Sledge HADN'T sent a monster to Amber Beach yet, didn't mean he wouldn't. Now that the Rangers had encountered Fury in New Zealand, it wouldn't take long for Sledge to hear that six out of the seven Rangers were on the opposite side of the planet. He was expecting him to take advantage any time now.

He found his attention caught as the door opened behind him and Margaret walked in, carrying a telephone. He took a second to catch his breath as she arrived.

"I didn't mean to interrupt, but its Mr Watkins on the phone." She said as he pulled off his gloves. "I was going to take a message, but he was quite insistent."

"Of course, thank you." Phillipe replied as he took the phone from her. "Mr Watkins, I'm pleased you responded so promptly..."

"Your Highness, I have to admit being more than a little surprised you responded to my E-mail." Mr Watkins began. "I was a little upset that the golf course was closed, so if I've caused offence..."

"No, nothing like that, not at all!" Phillipe assured him. "I'm sorry my meeting with the mayor inconvenienced your business proceedings. I was hoping I could make it up to you."

"Unfortunately I don't think..."

"Please, I insist." Phillipe interrupted him. "I'm well aware of the fact I'm the new kid in town, I'd rather get on with my neighbours. How would you like to invite your clients around here?"

"To the Embassy?" Mr Watkins asked.

"Yes, my chef here is really quite excellent." Phillipe assured him. "I'd really like to make this up to you if I can."

"My clients were kind enough to extend their stay in the city. I think I might be able to convince them to accept your hospitality." Mr Watkins replied. "I have to admit, I've never been to an Embassy before."

"Excellent. I can have a driver pick you and your guests up." Phillipe told him. "When would be convenient for you?"

"I can call my clients right away." Mr Watkins answered. "You know where my office is..."

"My driver will be around shortly." He stated. "I look forward to seeing you."

With that, he hung up the phone, handing it back to Margaret.

"Tell Antoinette we're expecting guests. Have the dining room set up." He told her, pulling off his T-shirt. "I need to go and get cleaned up."

As he left, Margaret watched him go, before having to snap herself back into reality, getting onto her radio to begin arrangements for their guests.

Back in New Zealand, Tyler and the other Rangers made their way around the assault course, barely keeping up with Albert. They could hardly believe how nimble and quick he was, blasting around the course like the obstacles weren't even there. He turned around as he got over the last high bar, landing on the open ground on the way back to camp, running backwards.

"Come on slow pokes, keep up!" He teased them, before turning back around. Riley landed and started to sprint, hoping to catch him, with the others not far behind him. As they all got to the finish line, Albert was waiting on them, already putting on the kettle.

"Sorry, I would have had the kettle boiled, but I had to slow down a little so you could keep up!" He teased them as they arrived, stopping to catch his breath. He pointed to Ivan and Riley. "I needed to be sure you could see me. I wouldn't want those two accusing me of taking any short cuts."

"Why would we...?"

"I'm old, I'm not deaf." He chuckled, beginning to prepare some mugs. "Nor am I stupid. I've seen you two whispering."

"We merely expressed..."

"I've been living out in these woods for over thirty years! I've been up those mountains more times than you two have likely been anywhere." Albert said as he started looking out tea bags. Tyler glared at them, before approaching Albert.

"Well, I think we can safely say you've proven your fitness." Tyler said, coming to the Purple Ranger's side. "You killed that course."

Just then, their communicators sounded. Chase answered his first.

"What is it Ms Morgan?" He asked.

"I've detected alien bio signatures in the city." Kendall told him. "I'm reading a lot of power."

"We're on it." Tyler told her. He looked to Albert. "Well, looks like you finally get to fight as part of the team."

"F...f...fight?" Albert asked, looking a little concerned. "Those things are back?"

"Hey, don't worry about it. You've got this!" Tyler said enthusiastically. "Besides, this time you have all of us on your side!"

"Believe me, that makes a LOT of difference." Chase agreed. Albert just nodded as the Rangers all ran off.

"Yes...of course." He said with a gulp, taking his Energem in his hand. "Of course."

Meanwhile, back in Amber Beach, Allison was struggling as the lunch time crowd came in. She was running around out the front, clearing up some tables as a customer started waving her over.

"I'm sorry; can I take your order?" She asked.

"The girl at the counter took my order...half an hour ago!" The mother said grumpily as she tried to keep her kids under control.

"Oh...I'll just check on that." Allison told her. "Very sorry about the inconvenience."

As she headed towards the counter, someone else stopped her.

"Excuse me, but I specifically asked for NO pickles on my burger." The man told her.

"Yes...well...sorry about that, would you like a replacement?" She asked.

"No, just...get me a refill on my soda will you?" He asked her. She took the cup and headed for the counter. She found it difficult to get there since there were so many people crowded up. It was only as she got to the other side she realised that there was no one behind the counter!

"Excuse me; I've been waiting for twenty minutes!" One woman complained. Allison just nodded.

"Thank you for your patience, I'll be right with you, I promise." She answered as she looked around the back. There was no one on the grill either.

"Erica?" She called out. "Erica!"

"I'm here, I'm here, keep your hair on!" Erica said as she came to the counter.

"Where the hell were you?" Allison asked her.

"I was in the bathroom!" She protested. "Do you want me to pee myself?"

"Where the hell is Brad?" Allison asked her.

"How would I know?" Erica asked her with a shrug.

"Table three wants a re-fill and table nine is still waiting on their order." Allison told her. "But take their orders first! Alright folks, sorry about the wait, you WILL get your food, we'll bring it out to the table. Erica, I'll see if we can get someone from the floor to help out. I'll be right back."

As she stepped out into the back, looking for someone to help out, she heard someone shuffling around. She was looking around for who was hanging around in the store room. She thought most would be in the museum. As she rounded a corner, she found Brad with his cell phone out, wandering around.

"YES!" He called out, turning to see her. "Oh, hey!"

"Brad? What the hell are you doing here?" She asked him. He showed her his cell phone, with a huge smile on my face.

"I just caught a Snorlax!" He told her. "I caught a Charmander over there earlier; seriously this place is like a gold mine!"

"Are you FREAKING KIDDING ME?" Allison yelled at him. "It's the lunch rush and you're out here playing POKEMON?"

"I was on a break." He said with a shrug. He walked past Allison, heading back to the restaurant, but with absolutely no sense of urgency in his pace. Allison just took a deep breath, before heading back to the cafe.


	8. Purple Heart

Phillipe came into the main entrance lobby after getting showered and changed. He was in the process of sorting his collar, his tie hanging around his neck as he came into the room. Margaret was just hanging up the phone with one of his security detail that had gone to pick up Mr Watkins and his clients.

"They're just on their way." She told him. "They should be here any minute."

"Excellent. Perhaps I can mend some fences with the local movers and shakers." Phillipe stated, trying to do his tie. He was fumbling it a little in his hurry to be presentable by the time his guests arrived, causing Margaret to just let out a frustrated sigh and approach, doing it for him.

"He runs a factory that makes ice cream bars. He's not exactly fortune 500." She responded. "Why would you choose today of all days not to wear a clip-on?"

"I liked this pattern." Phillipe responded with a smirk. "Besides, you're here. You can always do it."

She just swatted his arm as she pulled out a palm-pilot.

"Kenneth Watkins, owner of Watkins' Ice Cream bars." She told him. "His factory employs approximately 354 people, and distributes ice-cream bars nationwide. The company's net worth is about 679,000 dollars a year, but word is he's already looking at expansion."

"Not bad for a man who started with an ice-cream truck." Phillipe responded. Margaret just looked up at him a little surprised. "You're not the only one that did a background check on Mr Watkins."

"I'm sure mine was a little more thorough though." She responded with a little snark in her tone. "No prior convictions, not even any traffic violations. Graduated Valedictorian from Amber Beach High, and then from Amber Beach Business and Finance College, also top of his class."

"So he's a born and raised local." Phillipe commented. "Even more reason to appease him as the new neighbour."

"Married only once, to Rebecca Watkins, he has one daughter named..."

"Your Highness, your guests are here." One of the security guards stated as he entered the room.

"Well, let's not keep them waiting then shall we?" He said, fixing his collar as Margaret finished with his tie. They headed to the doors, opening them to allow the men in.

One of them was a tall man, dark skinned, with a bald head. He was wearing an expensive suit, one that was clearly more for show than anything else. It was certainly more expensive than one would expect a man owning one small factory to wear, and he was carrying a dark cane with a large, golden figurine at the top of the handle. He was a large man, with a girth that suggested he might just have sampled a little too much of his own product in his time.

"Mr Watkins I presume." Phillipe greeted him, shaking his hand. "So glad you accepted my invitation."

"I'm pleased to accept your Highness." He responded. "These are my guests, Mikhail Ulyanov and his associate Afansy Kuklinski."

"Ah, welcome, so glad to have you." He said, approaching one of them. He was a smaller man, shorter than Phillipe, and quite slender with it. He was greying, and wore a non-descript, grey suit.

"Thank you for having us Your Highness." He said in a thickly accented voice. "It isn't every day I receive a Royal invitation."

"Well, I'm only too happy to invite international co-operation." Phillipe assured him. "Your accent...You're Russian?"

The other man said something under his breath. The first man just smiled.

"My associate Afansy can be a little sarcastic." Mikhail said, gesturing to the other man. This one was a true monster of a man. His shadow alone easily engulfed both Mikhail and Phillipe. His suit was custom made to cover his large frame, and he had short, dark hair. Phillipe offered him his hand, which Afansy took with a surprisingly gentle grip, like he didn't really want to take it.

"My Grandfather fought in Great War." Afansy stated.

"Well, that's a coincidence because my..."

"He was Nazi was he not?" Afansy asked him. The whole room went quiet for a minute. Phillipe just smiled.

"He was a double-agent." He responded with pride. "Now, would you like a tour of the Embassy before we retire for dinner?"

There was a little exchange between the men, before they looked back to him.

"That would be most welcome." Afansy replied. "Mr Watkins, perhaps we could have a rain-check on that opera you booked for tonight?"

"I'll call the theatre now." Mr Watkins replied, pulling out his phone as they began their tour.

Back in New Zealand, the Rangers arrived in downtown Auckland, finding a scene of utter chaos. Normally when monsters were sent into the city, they seemed to have at least SOME form of direction, an objective or mission. Looking at the random explosions and the sheer volume of people fleeing for their lives, it looked like this mission had no real objective whatsoever, other than carnage.

"Time for a cold snap!" Ice Age declared as he cast forth a chilling wind, freezing several people solid on the spot. A police cruiser was coming towards him, but Stingrage fired some powerful stings straight through the windshield, causing the vehicle to veer off the road and slam into a nearby wall. The Rangers could hardly believe their eyes when they saw them.

"These guys?" Chase asked. "But...we've already dealt with these guys!"

"That bad one that sting Ankylozord!" Koda pointed out, pointing to Sting Rage. The memory was still fresh in his mind how Stingrage had managed to turn a Zord, and also a whole team of Rangers against them. They had barely managed to escape the battle with the Corsairs with their lives. "He make us fight friends!"

"It looks like Fury has added Necromancy to his bag of tricks." Riley commented.

"Ew...he does it with dead things?" Chase asked. Riley just sighed.

"I said, Necromancy, not Necro...oh never mind." Riley muttered, shaking his head. "Necromancy is magic that deals with bringing the dead back to life."

"Oh, it's nothing like that, trust me on that part." Wrench said as he appeared with a swarm of Viviks. "I've been working on cloning for quite some time. Now I can bring back any of our creatures you destroyed, as long as we have a sample."

"Ew, gross!" Shelby said, starting to gag at the thought.

"It's just good business!" Wrench responded. "Dead prisoners are easier to arrest and transport, but they have a much lower reward. This way, we have the ease of transporting dead prisoners, but we can claim the reward for living prisoners once we get them back."

"I have to say, it's a solid business model." Chase commented. "You know, if most of your contract holders hadn't died off millions of years ago."

"Well, I would stand and discuss the finer points of finance with you, but I have somewhere else to be. I have bigger fish to fry." Wrench told them. "I'll just leave you in their capable hands. Stingrage, Ice Age, turn this city into a desert!"

"Follow what we do." Koda said to Albert. The older man just nodded, taking his Energem in his hand and holding it out like the others did with their Dino Chargers.

"Ready!" They all called out together, summoning their morphers. Albert found his morpher appearing in his hand. He looked a little confused. Why would his gun appear when he wasn't morphed? He watched the Rangers loading their Dino Chargers into the barrels of their Dino Morphers.

"Wait...I have to do what?" Albert asked, staring at the blaster. He had never actually used it to morph before. Until now, he'd only summoned the weapon once by accident. He had also seen what it could do. Loading down the barrel of a gun capable of taking down brick walls didn't really seem like such a good idea to him. He had ten fingers and he very much planned on keeping it that way! Koda could see him struggling, and leaned in, hitting a switch that opened it out slightly.

"Weapon not fire when open like that." He assured him. Albert just nodded and shoved the Energem into the breach. He slammed it shut just like the others, taking great care to make sure the barrel was pointing nowhere near any of them.

"UNLEASH THE POWER!" They chorused together. With a bright flash of light, the Rangers all charged forward, rushing into battle, summoning up their weapons. Albert was the only one who hung back. He called up his Dino Sabre, but looking at the two hideous beasts fighting the Rangers, surrounded by a sea of Viviks, his blood started to run cold. He could remember the power shown by the creatures he had faced before. He could tell that they were easily as strong as the ones that had almost destroyed him and sent him running so many times before! He heard a scream and turned to see Riley hitting the ground as Sting Rage raked his claws across him, sending sparks flying in all directions, far brighter than Albert was used to seeing! Ivan got involved, holding Ice Age off him, but seeing Riley struggling on the ground, starting to pull himself up, Albert could not find it in himself to act.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, before turning and running, taking cover behind a building. These Rangers were younger, stronger than him, and they had been fighting these monsters for a lot longer. If the monsters could do that to them, what chance did he have?

Back in the states, Allison was busy clearing up in the cafe, when Alessandra came in. She didn't normally work at the Dino Bite, but there were some shifts going begging, and Allison had convinced her that a few shifts here or there could be a good thing to keep her going between bookings. She looked around a little surprised.

"Where everyone?" She asked. Allison just looked to her.

"They're on that dig..."

"No, where other staff?" Alessandra clarified. She was determined to ask Allison about the dig, particularly since her cell phone company had now told her that apparently Koda was in New Zealand! But right now, she was a little surprised to find Allison here by herself.

"Claire called to say she was held up at college, she'll be about 20 minutes late." Allison began. "Erica left early because there was a sale she just HAD to check out, and Brad...God only knows, he just kind of disappeared."

"Brad and Erica leave before next shift here?" Alessandra asked her. Allison just nodded.

"It's fine, I can handle it." Allison told her. Alessandra seemed a little sceptical about this.

"They should not leave alone." Alessandra stated as she went to get ready. "If someone leave gym early, Carl..."

"Well, we're not wrestlers, and I have only been a supervisor one day!" Allison interrupted her. Alessandra could tell that Allison wasn't happy about this, so she decided to change the subject.

"You miss Chase?" She asked.

"Sure I miss him." Allison responded. "I was hoping to go out of town with him soon, but this dig came up, and now with this promotion...I guess it'll have to go on the back burner for a while."

"I miss Koda. I call him." Alessandra told her. "I run out of credit."

"Spend a long time on the phone did you?" Allison asked her with a smile. Alessandra just shook her head.

"No, only few minutes." She replied. "Credit run out quickly calling New Zealand."

Allison realised there was a potential issue here. She was on a network that had a lot of free minutes, and that had low international rates. She had missed the fact Alessandra had referred to 'credit' and not minutes. She was on a pre-paid credit plan. She didn't have the steady income that would support a contract.

"Oh, wow!" Allison commented, stammering slightly to try and think of a way to explain that. No one had told her where the dig actually was, to hear it was on the opposite side of the world had to be more than a little bit of a surprise. "Koda didn't say he was heading out there? Sorry, it was kind of sudden..."

"I surprise he get there so fast." Alessandra continued. "Check flight times, most take whole day..."

"That's only uh...commercial airlines." Allison responded. "Phillipe was kind enough to lend them his private jet. It's much faster."

Alessandra didn't look especially convinced by this answer, but she just pulled on an apron, at which Allison handed her the mop.

"If you'll excuse me, I just have to...talk to Ms Morgan about...some figures." Allison told her. "Can you finish this?"

Alessandra just shrugged and got to work, while Allison headed into the back.

Back at the site of the battle, the Rangers were battling fiercely to save Auckland, which now as far as they knew had nothing left that Fury would be interested in. Tyler swung around, sweeping the legs out from under several Viviks.

"You're all grounded!" He said, looking around. "Get it?"

As he looked around though, he couldn't help noticing something. Albert was noticeably absent from the battlefield. Tyler knew that some of the others had reservations about him, but he had hoped that once he had a chance to prove himself, the others would come around. Not only did he have faith that the Energems didn't make mistakes picking the brave and heroic to lend their powers, but he genuinely felt something about Albert that gave him faith in the man.

"Albert?" He called out, before running around. "Albert!"

He checked quickly, seeing that the Rangers were finally starting to turn the tide, and he could tell that they didn't really need him there anymore. He started to run off, looking for the old man. He found him sitting behind a building a short way off, sitting on the ground, unmorphed and his head buried in his arms. He could hear him sobbing.

"Albert, there you are!" Tyler said as he knelt down with him. "Why didn't you tell us you were afraid?"

"I'm not just scared, I'm terrified!" He sobbed, unable to even bring himself to look at Tyler. "It's easy to catch purse snatchers or bike thieves, but those monsters want to destroy me!"

"Albert, we're all scared. It's natural; it's what keeps us safe! Any fight you get into can go badly!" Tyler said, trying to reassure him. "But you can get past your fear. Like...when you wrestled that giant squid!"

"Giant squid? Are you daft lad? I've never wrestled a giant squid! I can't even swim!" Albert told him. Tyler shifted a little. He knew that some of Albert's tales were a little wild, and that there was a good chance some of them weren't true. He'd obviously picked badly. "I've never caught a bigfoot, or a unicorn. I bought that dragon egg off EBay, it's a movie prop!"

"Albert..."

"Everything about me is a FRAUD!" Albert sniffed as he pulled off his eyepatch, revealing he did indeed have two eyes. "I've sold my business on lies and tall tales for years, and now it seems I've even managed to fool an Energem."

"No, I don't believe that." Tyler stated flatly. He was surprised. Well...not TERRIBLY surprised that a lot of Albert's tales were exactly that, just amazing stories, but he couldn't just abandon his faith in him. Tyler always considered himself to be a good judge of people's hearts. He might have had doubts about some people's eccentricities, but he always could feel it when he met someone who were the ones that were likely to run away at the first sign of hard times, and who would stand when they needed to. Sometimes, the ones that ran at first were the ones who would show the greatest courage when it mattered. He had never doubted any of the Rangers' courage, and he had never doubted Keeper or the Energems in their judgement. "The Energems CAN'T be fooled! They never make mistakes!"

"But I'm a..."

"I don't CARE if you've never wrestled a giant squid!" Tyler interrupted him. "You know what I remember? Ever since you got that Energem you've been using it to do good!"

"But that was just..."

"Did you know it would protect you from that bank robber? I don't think HE had any good intentions!" Tyler continued. "What about that little girl you saved? You didn't even have the Energem then. You knew men much younger than you were scared for their lives and you went and saved her anyway!"

"I...I...I couldn't leave her." Albert told him.

"Just like you can't abandon your city now!" Tyler told him. "Those monsters won't care who they hurt! You have to stop them!"

"You aren't going to stop ANYONE!" Ice Age responded as he appeared before them. Before Tyler could react, he had launched a blast at Tyler that de-morphed him and froze his leg solid. He was crying out in pain as he could feel the cold setting in.

"Stay back!" Albert said with as much authority as he could under the circumstances.

"Or you'll do what? Run away again?" Stingrage mocked him. Albert looked up, seeing a couple of Vivimonsters in the background, locked in battle with the Ptera Zord. Obviously in a desperate effort, some of them had joined up to create a distraction. Ivan was forced to deal with them, while the others were on the ground still dealing with more Viviks. Albert just grabbed Tyler, lifting him up off the ground.

"Albert, what are you doing?" Tyler asked. "You have to..."

"I know what I'm doing!" Albert told him. "Trust me!"

Tyler didn't have much choice in the matter, but as the old man dragged him away, the monsters in hot pursuit, he noticed a change in the old man. While they were running, this wasn't the same cowering, terrified old man that he had seen moments before. Something in his face, in his strength as he dragged the barely-mobile Red Ranger gave him a feeling that caused him to believe in the old man.

Back in Amber Beach, Alessandra had finished setting up the restaurant, but she couldn't open for the evening rush by herself. Checking her watch, she could see it was already an hour into her shift and Claire still hadn't arrived! Allison had gone to speak to Ms Morgan, but that had been a while ago. Thinking she must have lost track of time, Alessandra went looking for her.

"Allison?" She asked, getting to Ms Morgan's office. However, she found that it was empty. Not only that, but it looked like Ms Morgan hadn't been there in a couple of days. The computer was off, there were no papers on the desk, and the coffee maker wasn't just off, but it was empty. She continued her search into the storage area.

"Ms Morgan?" She called out. "Allison?" She didn't get an answer though. As she continued to look around, she pulled out her cell phone and started dialling. All she got was a message saying that the signal was blocked, much like it had been when she tried to call Koda while he was travelling. Muttering in her native tongue, she continued to look for Allison.

She found her hat hung up near a display of a T-Rex head. She couldn't tell why it was in the back, where no one could see it. As she got closer, picking up the hat, she could see that the back of the mouth was made of wood, more than a little unusual since the display was apparently fibreglass. There was a sign warning that it was fragile, telling people to stay away, but she approached it anyway.

She looked more closely and noticed that one of the teeth was crooked. She knew Ms Morgan was a perfectionist, but it seemed silly that this was why the display wasn't out the front, especially when it could be fixed easily. Ignoring the warning from the sign, figuring if it did break off a simple matter of superglue would fix it, she grabbed the tooth and turned it, finding to her surprise that the hatch at the back opened. She looked down, seeing a slide heading down. She smiled a little as curiosity overcame her, and she slid down.

She landed at the bottom with a bump, expecting there to be a pad or something, but there wasn't. She looked up, seeing the Dino Lab. The bright lights and the computers were unlike anything she had seen outside of a movie. She could also see Ms Morgan and Allison standing a little way off, staring at her. She just looked to them completely confused.

"Ms Morgan, you have GOT to get a better lock on that thing." Allison commented.

"I did have." Kendall stated, approaching Alessandra. "But your boyfriend kept losing the keys."


	9. The Bigfoot Trail

Alessandra was sitting at a bench in the Dino Lab, still a little surprised and confused over what she had seen. A hot chocolate appeared before her as Kendall sat on the edge of the table. She looked up at the stern scientist, a million questions still swirling around in her head. It didn't help that she wasn't sure how to even ask most of the questions in English.

"Why does she get cocoa while I got handcuffed to that workbench?" Allison asked. Kendall just silenced her with her trademark glare, before looking to Alessandra.

"I'm guessing you have a lot of questions." Kendall surmised. Alessandra just nodded in response. She didn't have much of an idea what exactly she had found, but it looked like a much more extensive set-up than would be available in the local Apple store. Most of the equipment she had never even seen before. Even though she had never gone beyond a high school education and was never really into science or technology, she didn't think this was exactly the kind of set-up needed in the average natural history museum.

"What this place?" She asked as she looked around. She saw a Dino Blaster sitting on the bench a little way off. She could recognise it from the time Kendall had come into the gym and blasted the others with it when they were under Shearfear's spell. "What that? Why have weapons in museum?"

"OK, those are very good questions." Kendall said as she took a deep breath. "Alright, where to begin..."

"You know Koda's in New Zealand right?" Allison blurted out. Alessandra just nodded, a little confused as to exactly what this had to do with anything. "Well, do you want to know who else is in New Zealand?"

She went to one of the computers and pulled up some images. It wasn't long before she found some newspaper pictures of the Rangers in battle. Alessandra just looked to the picture, before looking to Allison and Kendall.

"You say Koda is Power Ranger?" Alessandra asked them. Kendall just looked to Allison.

"Well, I thought it would save some time." Allison protested, knowing that the conversation would work around there eventually. She thought that getting this main fact out of the way early would likely cut a significant amount of time off the conversation.

Alessandra looked like she was about to laugh, to just brush all this off as a joke, but she stopped just short, only the smallest little trace of a chuckle escaping her mouth. She started to think a little more about Koda, and the time she spent with him. There were a lot of times he would act strangely, when he would disappear with little or no explanation. She had on occasion seen him with bruises and injuries that seemed to disappear in next to no time. She had also wondered how he would get to New Zealand so quickly. She didn't claim to be an expert, but some of those robots the Rangers used could fly, and seemed to move a lot faster than many normal planes.

"Koda is Ranger?" She asked. "He...Blue Ranger?"

"She's catching on quick." Allison replied, before looking to Kendall. "You know, maybe as a security measure we should suggest they mix up their wardrobe a little."

"Maybe the next team." Kendall sighed, before looking to Alessandra. She could see the young woman was still a little confused and clearly had a lot more questions. "You care about Koda, don't you?" Alessandra just nodded in response.

"I...love." She replied. Kendall smiled hearing this. While she always knew that a relationship in the modern era would be complicated for Koda, she had seen that his relationship with Alessandra had helped him a lot. While she had made a commitment to habilitating Koda to the modern era, she knew there was only so much she could do herself, and the process had hit something of a plateau. Before his wrestling, all he really did was work in the museum and hang around in his cave. Now, he was actually getting out into the city, he made some new friends at the gym, and a lot of his new comfort with the outside world had a lot to do with Alessandra. He wanted to learn more, to improve himself for her.

"There's more to tell, but most of it is his place to tell you, not mine." Kendall told her. "When he gets back, I'll let him know you know about this, and he can tell you everything. I only ask you one thing."

Kendall moved a little closer.

"No one can know about this." She told her. "We need to keep this secret. Not everyone means us well..."

"I keep secret." Alessandra assured them. "I keep secret for Koda."

"Good." Kendall said with a little smile. "I just have one question for you though. What were you doing in the back?"

Alessandra just nodded in response. She still had a lot of questions, but from what Kendall had said, she got the impression it was best she hear it from Koda.

"I...looking for Allison." She replied. "I about to open restaurant, but no one else there. Want help."

"Wait, no one else is there?" She asked. "What about Brad and Erica?"

"Erica had to duck out early. She had...uh...urgent business." Allison said, trying not to admit that business was shopping. Since Brad had left her in the lurch during the lunch hour, she didn't want to deny her that favour in return. Brad, she had no idea where he'd gone. It looked like he'd just walked out when he felt like it. "I...I'm not sure where Brad went, but his shift is over."

"What about Claire?" Kendall asked.

"She called to say she'd be about 20 minutes late. College ran over." Allison answered.

"When was that?" Kendall asked her.

"About...three quarters of an hour ago?" Allison offered rather weakly. Kendall just groaned and adjusted her glasses. "Damn it Allison, I gave you the supervisor position so I didn't need to worry about this stuff."

"I'm sorry Ms Morgan." Allison replied, choosing not to risk a first-name basis when she was being told off. Kendall just gestured to the elevator.

"The two of you deal with the restaurant. I've got stuff to do here." Kendall replied as she gathered up some notes. "I was really hoping for more from you Allison."

As they turned to leave, Allison just kept her mouth shut. It wasn't the first time a boss had told her off. More than once, her last boss had taken her into his office and literally screamed at her so loudly for several minutes it could be heard out on the street. It was, however, the first time she had cared. She felt disappointed that she had let Kendall down, and she felt disappointed in herself that she hadn't made things any easier for Kendall or her friends. She had only been in the job one day and already she was pulling a double shift and getting told off by the boss. Alessandra pulled in closer.

"You say something about handcuffs." Alessandra whispered. "Why Ms Morgan have handcuffs?"

"There are some things that are best left a mystery." She sighed as they got onto the elevator. "I saw her with Matt once...and I got a lot of mental images I really can't un-see."

Back in New Zealand, Albert was still dragging Tyler from the battle, deeper and deeper into the woods. His leg was encased in ice, but it was so cold that even the heat of the day in New Zealand had no real effect on it. The stinging, burning sensation in his leg was agonising. He could tell that it was frostbite. Thanks to the Energem, he knew he had little to worry about if his leg could be freed, but it was still worse than any pain he could ever remember. Albert suddenly stopped, looking around and smiling.

"Albert, what are you doing?" Tyler asked him.

"I'm making my stand." Albert told him with a smile. Tyler just looked alarmed.

"NOW?" He asked. "You left the rest of the team behind, and you want to fight now?"

"Trust me!" Albert said as he stood ready. Stingrage and Ice Age finally managed to catch up with him, breaking through the tree-line. They started to approach him slowly, seeing him hunched over as he stood before them.

"So, you finally ran out of steam." Ice Age taunted him. "You're not as young as you used to be old man."

"Don't give him too hard a time; we should be thanking the old goat." Stingrage told him. "Now, without support, he's delivered us a helpless Ranger. Now we get to bring Fury TWO Energems."

Tyler just glared at Albert as this situation dawned on him. Their friends were still some distance away, and he was in no condition to fight. Nor, by the looks of the way Albert was standing, was the Purple Ranger. He had hand-delivered the power right to them. He hated to think it, but he was starting to believe his faith in Albert had been misplaced. His desperation to believe that he was like his dad, that he was just full of unpopular and wild ideas had blinded him to what Ivan and Riley had been telling him all along.

"OLD GOAT?" Albert roared. "It looks like I have to teach you whippersnappers a lesson!"

He pulled out his Energem and started to fumble with it. As they started to come forward, he held up a hand.

"Let me get ready!" Albert demanded. "Unless...you're scared."

Stingrage and Ice Age just looked to each other, before backing up a little.

"That's it, back up!" He told them. "Now, face the wrath of the Violet Av... Sorry, the Purple Ranger!"

He morphed into his Ranger mode, and summoned up his sword, starting to make his way forward. He only got a few steps forward before letting out a large cry and clutching at his back. Ice Age and Stingrage just laughed at the feeble display.

"Oh, help, save us from the mighty Purple Ranger!" Stingrage laughed as he clutched his sides, unable to hide his derision.

"Stop, please, before you hurt yourself!" Ice Age taunted him. Albert clutched his sword tightly.

"I'll teach you some manners!" He said as he stumbled forward, swinging his sword in a display that looked somewhat more like a 5-year-old with a toy than a credible warrior. The two monsters continued to mock him and keep just out of reach. Neither of them noticed that the whole time, Albert's gaze was always on the ground. He looked towards Sting Rage and lunged for him, this time with a much more serious and powerful strike. The monster jumped back, but with a huge crack, he fell straight through the ground, tumbling down a massive hole, screaming the whole way. The trap triggered a mechanism that dropped a series of logs that were suspended in the trees above it, bringing them slamming down, sealing the hole. Ice Age realised that it was a trick.

"You...You tricked us!" He screamed. Albert just smiled beneath his helmet.

"That's right!" He responded, swinging his sword for a tree. "Why don't you hang around and think on having respect for your elders?"

Ice Age could hear another trap springing, and before he knew what was happening, he was suspended upside down more than thirty feet in the air. Albert came over towards Tyler, gripping his sword.

"Hold still." Albert told him. He swung the sword, smashing the ice off his leg. As he helped him up, Tyler started trying to rub the feeling back into his leg. He could see that it was discoloured, but he was confident the Energem's regenerative powers would save it. Hell, Koda had been an ice-cube for a hundred thousand years and he was fine!

"You had this planned all along, didn't you?" Tyler asked as Albert de-morphed. "You sly old dog!"

"Come, let's find the others and carry on our adventures." Albert responded. "I have a feeling those traps won't hold those two forever."

"So, these are your bigfoot traps?" Tyler asked him. Albert nodded. "You've spent a lot of time on them haven't you?"

"They have their advantages." Albert chuckled. "Let's put it this way. I haven't had a Jehovah's Witness visit in the last 23 years!"

Meanwhile, in the Zandarian Embassy, Phillipe was leading Mr Watkins and his guests around the building, showing them some of the treasures he had brought with him to the country.

"While my father is more interested in treasure for the sake of its value, I'm more interested in historical value. As you can see I have quite a collection I have amassed for myself." He said as he brought them to another room. "I think you'll be very interested in this display."

He opened the door, showing them a room filled with a collection from their home country. They looked around seeing a number of paintings, sculptures and books that were exceedingly rare.

"I have to say, much of this was not easy to find, and it was even more difficult to procure." He told them.

Afansy muttered something under his breath. Mikhail just silenced him and looked to Phillipe.

"You have to forgive my friend; he has a few...issues with some of our past." Mikhail explained. "Many of these treasures belonged to the Romanovs. He has no love of them."

"I can understand why." Phillipe responded, going to a display case, which held a book in it. He opened it and pulled out the book. "Your surname, is Ullyanov, by any chance would that be connected to Vladimir Illyic Ullyanov?"

"Not many know him by his true name." Mikhail said, looking impressed. "Most simply know him as..."

"Lenin." Phillipe responded, handing him the book. "It's a copy of Karl Marx's 'Das Capital' signed by the man himself. It seems only fitting that you have it."

"You...you would give me this?" He asked. "But this would be worth..."

"It is worth more to me to make new friends." Phillipe interrupted him. Mikhail and Afansy started to speak in their native tongue once more. "I'll just give you some time. Margaret, direct them to the dining room when they're finished would you?"

With that, he left them in the room with Margaret, to talk in private. He looked to Mr Watkins, who was smiling.

"Well, I have to say, I admire your generosity." He told him.

"I did owe you a debt for jeopardising your business proceedings." Phillipe replied. "It is a small price to pay." He gestured down the hall. "Would you like a brandy before dinner? I have a fine cognac I've been looking for an excuse to uncork."

"Who needs and excuse for Cognac?" Mr Watkins replied with a smile. "I only wish my daughter had such an interest in the development of business." Phillipe just looked to him.

"Your daughter?" He asked him.

"I always hoped she would take on the family business, but she has shown no interest in it." He said as they walked through the halls towards the dining room. "I've offered her everything, I've offered to pay for her college, an internship, everything."

"She doesn't like the idea of the family business?" Phillipe asked in response.

"She has no problem enjoying the money the business makes." He responded. "When I heard my wife was pregnant, I dreamed of the day I'd change the sign from 'Watkins Ice Cream Bars' to 'Watkins and Son's Ice Cream Bars'. I didn't care when I was told I had a daughter. I just...I just wanted something to share with my children. Something to...when the day comes...hand down to them."

"It's not an uncommon dream Mr Watkins." Phillipe replied. "But unfortunately we can't choose our children's paths for them."

"You have children?" Mr Watkins asked him.

"Oh God no!" Phillipe laughed as he heard this, opening the door into the dining room. "I've been a little too busy with my own pursuits to settle down and find the right woman. Believe me, my father has tried. I just know a little about not agreeing with a parent on which path their children should follow."

"With all due respect Your Highness, that is where we must agree to disagree. That is all fine and well when you can afford to fund such pursuits yourself." Mr Watkins said to him as Phillipe poured them both a Cognac. "But I don't make investments I don't believe in. If my daughter believes there is a future in rolling around in mud digging up bones, then she can find a way to pay for it herself."

As he took a sip, Phillipe paused, thinking about what he had just heard.

"Watkins?" He whispered. "He couldn't mean..."

"Phillipe." Margaret said, interrupting his train of thought as she brought his guests back into the room. "There is a matter we should discuss."

"I'm sure it can..."

"It's quite a pressing matter." She told him. He just nodded.

"Gentlemen. Help yourselves to drink; my staff will keep you well attended." Phillipe told them as he followed Margaret out of the room, closing the door behind them. He looked to her. "What is it Margaret? Is there Ranger business...?"

"No, it's something else." She told him. "There's something you need to know about Mr Watkins' guests."


	10. Plesio Problem

The Rangers got back to the hotel following their battle. They had driven off the Viviks, and saved the city. At least, they had for now. Returning to the hotel, they decided to enjoy the benefits of the hotel. While Albert did have his shack, Phillipe had already sprung for suites in a five-star hotel, and they were keen to enjoy the benefits while they were there.

"Now THIS is the way to travel." Chase said as he took a glass of champagne from a waitress who was circulating around the executive lounge, offering complimentary drinks and canapés to those that had paid the exorbitant fees for an upgrade, or who had loyalty card memberships that gave them that privilege. "So, what time does the restaurant open for dinner?"

"Six thirty." The waitress replied as she smiled at him. "The special is swordfish."

"This...isn't exactly what I envisioned being a...well...one of you." Albert admitted uneasily as he looked around. He was getting a few looks due to his aged bush clothing, some of which could do with a wash. While high-class hotels weren't exactly the exclusive playground of socialites in dinner suits anymore, with there being more than a few people there in jeans and t-shirts, he did look a little out of place. He felt like it too, having lived out in the wop wops for a significant portion of his natural life, he really wasn't too used to being waited on.

"It isn't always like this." Tyler answered as he popped a finger sandwich into his mouth. "Of course, there are certain perks to being on first-name terms with the Prince of Zandar."

"The Prince of...where?" Albert asked.

"Don't worry, a lot of people haven't heard of it." Riley assured him. "Listen, Albert...I just wanted to say...I'm really sorry for the way we've been treating you."

"Sir Riley speaks for both of us." Ivan added, taking a swig of his champagne. "As a Knight of the Realm, I am a proud man, but I am not too proud to admit when I have made a mistake."

"We kind of all did." Shelby admitted, looking to Albert. "I'm really glad we were wrong about you. What you did for Tyler was amazing."

"Smart too." Koda commended him. "You trap and destroy two monsters on first mission! You great Ranger!"

"Ah...well..." Albert started to say, looking a little nervous. "The thing is, I didn't ACTUALLY destroy them."

"You didn't destroy them?" Shelby asked him, looking to Tyler. He just shrugged.

"Well...I did kind of almost blow your head off my first time out." Tyler reminded her, before looking to Albert. "But for future reference, it's usually a good idea to take the monsters out so they don't come back."

"I'll...try to remember that in future." Albert replied.

"Anyway, I've finally got the connection, so we can give Ms Morgan the good news." Riley said as he placed his laptop on the table.

"Ms Morgan, let me introduce you to that gentleman we were looking for." Tyler said, putting his arm around Albert. "This is Albert Smith!"

"Have you filled him in on what this means?" Kendall asked. Tyler nodded.

"He knows everything." Tyler told her. "He's already saved my skin. He's just itching to get to the States and really get into the thick of things!"

Albert forced a smile hearing this. He had the power, he knew what being a Ranger meant, but going to America? He understood the practicalities of leaving Auckland. The fact was as long as they were there, as long as Fury was looking for something there, he would only keep coming. While his power was a boon that allowed him to help people, it also brought with it a lot of powerful enemies and endangered everything he cared about. Leaving was the smart thing to do, but that didn't mean it wasn't a daunting prospect. He'd never even left the North Island, never mind the country.

"You're not going anywhere just yet. There's still business to deal with in New Zealand." She told them.

"The Pleisio Zord." Shelby surmised.

"You mean...Tanifa?" Albert asked producing his Energem. "I've been seeing Tanifa in visions since I got this thing!" Riley raised his hand.

"OK, I haven't asked this before now, but everyone here keeps talking about it." He said as he looked to Albert and Chase. "What exactly is Tanifa?"

"Tanifa is a kind of local legendary monster." Chase told them, relaying his local knowledge. "It was a fairy tale I heard a lot as a kid. It's a creature that lives in lakes and oceans. It's like...our version of the Loch Ness Monster."

"Plesiosaur fossils have been found in Scotland and New Zealand." Shelby interjected. "A lot of experts believe if the Loch Ness Monster exists, then it might be a Plesiosaur that somehow survived into the modern era."

"So you're saying you think Tanifa is the Plesiosaur?" Chase asked her.

"It makes sense." Kendall told them. "Fact: The Purple Energem has been bonded. When that happened, the Plesiosaur would have awakened. Fact: There have been unproven sightings in the area where we know Albert found the Energem. Fact: Albert has told us himself that he's seen visions of it. The Pleisio Zord is there. We need to find it and harness it before you return to the States."

"Great! We know that the Energem came from that lake!" Chase stated. "Sure, it's big, but it's not THAT big..."

"See, that's where it's not quite so simple." Kendall told them. "Plesiosaurs aren't as easy to find as you might think. The Loch Ness Monster has never been conclusively found, and it's not a huge lake either."

"You're saying the Loch Ness Monster is real?" Riley asked her. She just shrugged.

"Maybe it is, I mean, we know Bigfoot exists." She responded.

"It does?" Albert asked them.

"Yeah, we've all seen it." Riley told him. "I even rode a unicorn once!"

"See what you get into being a Ranger?" Chase said with a smile. Albert just forced a smile back and nodded. He'd known he was a fraud, and people were as likely to find Elvis as they were Bigfoot on his tours, but knowing that he had been bragging about creatures that the Rangers knew for a fact existed, just not anywhere near his home made him fell a little uncomfortable. He had to sound like a complete idiot to them. "Hang on, isn't Tanifa meant to be like the size of a double decker bus or something?"

"About four actually." Shelby said with a knowing smirk. "But it was an ambush predator. It was known for hiding, that's one of the reasons fossils are so hard to find."

"So do we have any kind of plan how to find it?" Tyler asked.

"Not exactly." Shelby said as she reached into her backpack. "But...I think I might just know someone that might."

She pulled out a large book, showing them the cover. It was an older book, one that looked well-thumbed, and the dust-cover was cracked a little at the edges.

"This was the first dinosaur book I ever got. My dad bought it for me when I was six." She told them. "I've read it cover to cover...thousands of times...!"

"That's...great?" Riley said, failing to see what she was getting at it. "So?"

"It's the book that inspired my love of dinosaurs!" She responded, swatting him with the book. "But there's a reason I brought it with me. It was written by Dr Joseph Runga!"

"D...D...Dr Runga?" Kendall asked, stammering a little. Shelby looked to the screen.

"Yeah, you've heard of him?" Shelby asked. Kendall just nodded.

"I'm aware of his work." She responded curtly.

"Well, he's actually from New Zealand! So, when I heard we were coming out here, I decided to do a little digging online and, he's on a dig site just a few miles out of town!" Shelby told them. "I...may have been hoping we'd get a chance to get this book signed."

"So a dinosaur guy is near the city?" Chase asked, taking the book from her. He looked inside the dust jacket, where he saw a picture of the man. He just smiled showing it to Tyler. "Hey Tyler, think it was just the dinosaurs six-year-old Shelby was into?"

"Anyway!" Shelby snapped, taking the book back, blushing a little as she did so. "He also happens to be one of the world's foremost experts on the Plesiosaur! He's found more than anyone else! If anyone would know where we might be likely to find one, it'd be him!"

"So you just don't want to find super-hottie dinosaur guy?" Chase teased her. Shelby just smacked him with the book. "Ms Morgan?"

"His work has been criticised." Kendall replied a little snarkily. "Although, he is in the area, and he does have one of the best hit rates for Plesiosaur finds..."

"Then it is settled! Tomorrow we will locate this Dr Runga and seek his advice!" Ivan declared. "The sooner we find the Pleisio Zord, the sooner we can take the war out of your home town; won't that be grand Mr Smith?"

"Yes...yes, that would be great." Albert replied. Just then, the waitress arrived.

"Your table is ready." She told them, looking to Ivan. "The manager wanted me to tell you that as a courtesy, we've set up a private dining room Your Majesty."

"Your...?" He said, before smiling. "I'm afraid you're mistaken, I'm..."

"He just doesn't like attracting a lot of attention when he's travelling for leisure purposes." Riley interrupted Ivan.

"Of course, completely understandable." She replied, before gesturing to them to follow her. "Just this way please."

"What happened?" He asked.

"I...might have neglected to change the name on your booking and left Phillipe's on your room." Chase admitted with a knowing smirk. "You DO have the accent for it mate."

"Impersonating a member of the Royal Family is SO undignified!" He whispered pointedly. "In my day, one could be hung for treason!"

"He put his loyalty card on our bookings. He wanted us to enjoy all the benefits that go with it." Riley told him.

"Yeah, lighten up man." Chase responded. Ivan could see he was out-voted, and so he went with it.

"Fine, but I maintain this ruse under protest." Ivan told them, pointing at Riley. "I expected better of you Sir Riley."

"I'm sure once you try the swordfish you'll feel a lot better about it all." Tyler teased him as they followed the waitress to their private dining room.

Over at the Embassy, Mr Watkins was quietly having a drink with his prospective clients. He had to admit that when he sent a message to Phillipe complaining about the inconvenience to his business, he certainly wasn't expecting him to respond with this level of hospitality.

He laughed with the men as one of Phillipe's servants gave them all another aperitif before dinner. He was relaying one of his amusing little stories of the early days of his business, aiming to impress them with how he had turned his business from a simple ice cream truck into a seven figure per annum business.

"You have done impressively well for a self-made man Mr Watkins." Mikhail complimented him, shifting the book Phillipe had given him under his arm. "Meeting with royalty, running a large business, you've come a long way from the man that bought a second-hand truck with no wheels."

"What can I say? Opportunity is only as good as the effort you're willing to put into it." Mr Watkins said sagely. "I do regret missing the occasional wedding or the occasional family dinner but when I see all the people I've brought work to and all the customers who enjoy my products, it makes it all worth it."

Afansy said something in Russian, which caused Mikhail to chuckle. Mr Watkins just looked confused.

"Did I just miss a joke?" He asked.

"My associate was voicing similar sentiments." Mikhail told him as he raised a glass.

"Then perhaps it is time we began discussing..."

"There will be plenty of time for that after dinner." Mikhail interrupted him, taking a sip. Phillipe came into the room, backed up by Margaret and a couple of his security detail. He approached them. "Ah, Your Highness, I was just saying how much I've been looking forward to dinner..."

"I'm afraid you'll have to make other arrangements." Phillipe told him, taking the glass from his hand. "You've enjoyed my hospitality long enough."

"I'm sorry?" Mikhail demanded, looking nonplussed. His associate Afansy seemed more than a little agitated, beginning to tense up. "What is the meaning of this?"

"This is an OUTRAGE!" Mr Watkins roared angrily. "Mr Ullyanov, please accept my humblest apologies...what the devil do you think you're doing? Are you TRYING to ruin my business? First you muscle your way into my golf course, then you invite us round to apologise...only to insult my clients..."

"They're not your clients; they never had any intention of buying anything from you!" Margaret interjected.

"I may have been thinking about it before, but after travelling all this way just to be insulted..."

"He's already signed a deal with Maxwell's in Silver Hills." Margaret told him. Mr Watkins looked shocked, and was about to apologise to the men, but he could see that the two of them seemed every bit as surprised as he was. Mikhail was about to answer, but she cut him off. "Don't even try to deny it; I've already checked it out."

"If you've already signed with Maxwell's...why were you...?"

"They knew you were intent on making this deal. They've been milking your hospitality for all it's worth." Margaret informed him. "If I were you, I'd expect to find more than a few extras on the hotel bill you've so generously agreed to cover for them."

"This is outrageous, what does this woman...?"

"Among my associate's many talents, she is fluent in Russian." Phillipe interrupted Afansy as he was about to feign outrage. "One of her tutors was a former Spetznaz Captain. She heard everything you were saying."

"They weren't too shy about their opinion on how generous you've been." Margaret told Mr Watkins. She looked to Afansy. "I believe his words were 'when this guy shovels it, he really uses both hands'."

"You also had the nerve to insult my hospitality in my own home." Phillipe told them. "That is something I will not tolerate. Gentlemen, my staff will escort you to the door."

"I don't think you realise who my associate is." Mikhail warned them. "He is..."

"Your associate is a Bratva Captain." Margaret stated. "That might impress some people you try to intimidate, but believe me, it doesn't get you too far here."

Afansy started to move towards Phillipe, but the security detail all started to move in on him. Margaret stood between him and Phillipe.

"That would be a VERY bad move." She warned him. Afansy looked around, realising that she was right. The Bratva, or Russian Mafia were rightly feared, but there was a big difference between bargain basement security guards and a fully funded, trained diplomatic guard detail! He straightened out his jacket and turned, heading for the door.

"Oh, Mr Ullyanov?" Phillipe called after them. He held out his hand. "I offered that gift to a friend."

Mikhail just humphed as he walked back, handing Phillipe the book, before he and Afansy were escorted out. He turned to look at Mr Watkins, who was still a little shell-shocked by these events.

"I'm very sorry about that Mr Watkins." Phillipe said as he looked to the older man, approaching him. "I don't appreciate being insulted in my own home, but I am well aware you had nothing to do with it."

"Believe me, it's quite alright." Mr Watkins sighed. "I'm just sorry I didn't realise I was being taken advantage of. I feel so..."

"There is never anything to be ashamed of attempting to garner new relationships, be they personal or business." Phillipe responded. "Just so your time isn't completely wasted, perhaps I could discuss some business with you?"

"Business?" Mr Watkins asked him.

"I have sampled some of your products, and I admit that they really are excellent!" Phillipe told him. "We really don't have anything like this in my home nation."

"You wish to import my products to Zandar?" He asked. Phillipe just nodded.

"I think there's a very real market for it." He answered. "I can't claim to offer you the kind of order those gentlemen were offering, but I think we can do some business."

"I might be willing to offer you something." Mr Watkins said, taking a sip of his cognac. "What kind of order."

"Oh, nothing large. Perhaps we could begin with about...five million bars per year?" Phillipe responded. Mr Watkins almost choked when he heard this.

"F...f...five mil..." He stammered. He quickly composed himself. "Are you sure?"

"The summer may only be two months of the year, but the people of Zandar do have a very sweet tooth!" Phillipe assured him. "We can discuss the finer points of the deal over dinner."

"That sounds like a fantastic idea." Mr Watkins replied as they headed for the dining room.


	11. Search For Tanifa

The next morning, Allison was dragging her feet a little getting to work. She had never set out to be a supervisor not in this job...or any other job if she was honest. The responsibility just seemed to be a lot more hassle than it was worth when she thought about it. More than anything, it always seemed like a lot of the people she'd met in such roles just seemed so uptight over every tiny little rule whether it made any sense or not. Allison was never one to really care about rules, as could be evidenced from the number of times she'd been taken home by cops when she was a kid for skating where she wasn't meant to.

When she got offered the position here though, the responsibility didn't seem like hassle though. It didn't seem like just a title to feel important over, or an excuse to be a jerk to those who only days before she had been joking around with like always. She knew she was never likely to be a Ranger. She wasn't much of a fighter for a start. However, she knew how important their battles to protect the world were, and she was grateful that she could do something to help, even just a little. Taking a few extra tasks that on the face of things didn't even seem to be too difficult and freeing up Ms Morgan and the others to concentrate on more important matters seemed like a great way to do her part for the war effort.

However, she had only been in the job one day and already the appeal was wearing off. She had to deal with seemingly every other staff member coming in late or leaving when they felt like it, she had to do with everyone moaning about their shifts and asking for favours which she would no doubt have to cover. She had already been called out by Ms Morgan for the fact it seemed it only took one day for the restaurant to descend into chaos on her watch. She had hardly slept all night, and she had on a couple of occasions considered handing in her notice.

However, she had managed to shake herself out of that. She had given up on a few things in her time, school, jobs, relationships...things that when she thought about never really benefitted her or were more hassle than they were worth. The difference with this was that this time, what she was doing actually mattered. People other than her depended on her for once. She couldn't just quit. As she got to the museum though, she was pleasantly surprised to find Alessandra waiting for her.

"Alessandra, you're...you're here." She said, more than a little surprised. Alessandra just looked a little confused.

"I say I be here." She replied. "I make commitment."

"I wish others were more like you." She grumbled as she opened the door, letting them both in. They got to the cafe, finding Kendall was there, working on her laptop while she enjoyed the benefits of the coffee machine. "Ms Morgan, have you heard anything more from the others?"

"They still have to find the Plesio Zord, but they think they might have tracked down someone that can help them." Kendall told them. "Shelby getting a chance to meet one of her 'idols', Dr Joseph Runga is just an added bonus for her."

"That's great news!" Allison responded. "So they might be back soon? With a new Ranger and Zord as well?"

"I guess we'll just have to see." Kendall replied, packing up her lap top and picking up her coffee. "I'm heading back to the lab to rest up for a bit. I swear, the sooner they get back and I can go home the better."

"Now that is a woman who could use some people to lighten the load." Allison sighed, beginning to get the chairs down. "Put the ovens on to heat up would you?"

"Why she do this?" Alessandra asked, making air quotes with her fingers.

"When?" Allison asked.

"When she talk about Dr Runga, she do this." Alessandra said, repeating the motion. "What that mean?"

"I guess it means she doesn't like the guy much." Allison suggested as she continued with the chairs.

"Why?" Alessandra asked her. Allison just shrugged.

"Damned if I know." She responded. "She only started to come around to Shelby and me after a few months."

With that, they just went on with their work, preparing for the morning coffee run.

Over in New Zealand, the Ranger's rented minivan finally found its destination. It was a significant way from the city, and seemed to be even further into the 'Wop Wops' than even Albert's place. They were somewhat used to this; dinosaur fossils didn't have much respect for convenience of travel arrangements. As they were travelling, Albert was pointing out a lot of the local landmarks, gleefully telling them of the expeditions he had led there. While many of his tours were a complete hoax, searching for creatures that didn't exist, the one thing that was true was that Albert was an experienced bushman and tracker, and he had led many tours into dangerous wilderness. They knew that he would be an invaluable addition in this search.

Shelby wasn't really listening to Albert though; she was sitting in her seat, drumming her feet on the floor, pulling at her clothes with her copy of Dr Runga's book on her lap. Tyler noticed this, and had kept quiet for a while, but he couldn't ignore it any longer.

"Shelby, will you relax?" He asked her. "Dr Runga is just a Palaeontologist. We've met dozens of them."

"JUST a Palaeontologist?" She asked a little indignantly. "Is Da Vinci JUST an artist? Is Spielberg JUST a director?"

"Well technically..." Riley started to say, before being clobbered across the back of the head with the book. "OW!"

"Dr Runga is THE leading expert on the Plesiosaur in the entire world!" Shelby told them.

"Yeah, we heard that." Chase chuckled. "The first THOUSAND times you told us...HEY! DRIVING HERE!"

"Can we take a trip where Shelby DOESN'T assault us?" Riley asked.

"You know, hitting the guy driving isn't considered the smartest thing to do." Tyler said to his girlfriend. Shelby just looked to him. She knew he was right, she had geeked out a couple of times meeting people. The first time she had met Anton Mercer she had forgotten her OWN name when she introduced herself!

"I know." She told him. "It's just...this guy, the guy that wrote this book, he's kind of the reason I wanted to do all this in the first place. The way he used to talk about how seeing these creatures made him feel, all that passion...it affected me more than any of the fairytales that I had read to me as a kid."

"We're here guys!" Chase declared as they pulled up to a small encampment with a number of vehicles and tents gathered around. People were milling around with all kinds of tools. They all recognised the signs instantly. They were indeed in the right place; this was unmistakably a dig site.

Chase pulled up his vehicle where he was directed by security.

"Passes?" He asked.

"Oh...sorry mate, we don't have passes." Chase told him. "We called ahead. We have an appointment to see Dr Runga!"

"Right, you and dozens of others." The security guard stated. "I'm afraid he's busy. You'll have to wait until he can verify your appointment."

"Sir, you have to believe us, we called only a short time ago!" Ivan said, becoming a little agitated.

"It's true; I was there when they made the call." Albert assured him.

"Your assistant assured us we would see Dr Runga today." Ivan said a little more intently. "Please, we have come a long way..."

"Dr Runga is in the middle of a press event. He can't be disturbed." The security guard said. "You can wait in your vehicle until he is finished with his appointments..."

"We were assured we could speak with him right away!" Ivan demanded. "This is an outrage...!"

"Please, just settle down Your Highness." Tyler said. The other Rangers all immediately looked to him. It wasn't the first time they had pulled this ruse, and they all knew to play along. Ivan didn't look at all happy, still upset at the idea of impersonating a royal, but that just helped the idea. "It's alright, we'll wait..."

"Wait...Your Highness?" The security asked.

"Oh...it's not important." Tyler told him. "I mean, he is only Prince Phillipe III heir to the throne of Zandar, but we can wait..."

"Perhaps I can find somewhere more comfortable for you to wait!" The security guard suggested. "Come this way."

"I thought I made my feelings about impersonating the Prince VERY clear!" Ivan whispered angrily.

"It got us in didn't it?" Tyler asked in response as they were shown to a table in the middle of the camp, with a large tent behind it. It was the closest thing to an office in the area. They could see a marked out area a little way off, that the crew had been digging out for quite some time. There was a group of photographers out there, but it seemed like a lot more than just site surveys, they looked more like press.

"You can wait here." The security guard told them. "Dr Runga should be finished soon."

Shelby took that moment to inspect her team.

"Alright, we're going to meet Dr Runga. We NEED to make a good impression." She told them, starting to straighten out their clothes and hair. "We only get to make ONE first impression and..."

She paused as she got to Albert. He was still wearing his survival gear, much of it looking a lot older than most of the team. It also wasn't completely clean.

"Albert! I thought I asked you to dress up!" She protested. He just smiled.

"I did!" He said proudly. She just stared at him. "What? How many gala events do you think I go to?"

"Koda!" She whined, seeing the Blue Ranger standing barefoot next to him. "Koda, I thought we agreed you'd wear shoes today!"

"I know, but leave sandals at home." He told her. "Shoe you give squish toes! Not comfortable!"

"Guys, don't you care at all who Dr Runga is?" She asked them. "He's got hundreds of discoveries to his name..."

"And we're quite literally meeting him in a hole in the ground." Chase replied. Shelby was about to answer, but stopped when she realised he had a point. Dr Runga was out here working. It wasn't like he was going to turn up in a tux or anything. "Something tells me a little dirt isn't likely to bother the guy much."

"We only need to know where to look." Riley reminded them, looking to the charts on the table. "Maybe there's something here."

"We have not been invited to share his research." Ivan reminded him. "It seems...dishonest."

"Do you want to wait all day for the guy?" Riley asked. "Koda, you check those maps. I'll start with these."

"Hey, is that him down there?" Chase asked as Tyler, Koda, Ivan and Riley all started to rummage around in Dr Runga's paperwork, looking for any notes he might have suggesting the location of Plesiosaurs discoveries. Shelby just looked down into the dig site, where she could see a guy clearing out some other people in the area, in front of a bunch of cameras, clearing out a site for a photo op. Shelby just smiled.

"Yeah, that's him!" She said, looking on, seeing her childhood hero. "That's Dr Runga."

Down in the trench, Dr Runga was giving out orders to his team, directing them around.

"Move that netting, it's covering the company logo on those crates." He instructed one of his crew in a deep, authoritative voice. "I don't want another half hour phone call from the CEO for failing to get his logo in the shot."

Dr Runga was a huge man, well into his forties, but a massive presence, eclipsing most of the others in the area. He was part-Maori, giving him a dark complexion, and despite his age, he was still exceptionally muscular through a combination of labouring on his digs, and a deep love of rugby. He had short, dark hair that was styled practically, that was steadily losing the fight against grey. He was wearing hard-wearing boots and khaki trousers, with a deep blue shirt. He had a purple scarf around his neck. "Come on, quickly now, clear the shot! I don't want to see anyone in the shot!"

"Dr Runga, we normally line up our own..."

"You have your bosses, but I also have mine to satisfy." Dr Runga interrupted the photographer as he knelt down in the trench. He picked up a freshly excavated skull, holding it up for her. "This shot is for the front cover right?"

"Only the back cover I'm afraid." The photographer said quietly, beginning to prepare her camera. Dr Runga just sighed, not even trying to hide his disappointment. The back page wasn't exactly great, he was really hoping for another front cover. That was where the real money and prestige was.

"I suppose that'll have to do." He responded, unhappy but thanking his luck that at least it was a cover. The front over, centre pages and back cover of magazines were the ones everyone looked at first. He figured it could have been worse; at least he wasn't buried in the pages somewhere. Once the reporter took the picture, she started to pack away her camera. "Wait, aren't you going to ask any questions?"

"No, I should be able to write something myself." She told him, gesturing to the rest of her crew. "Come on guys, if we're quick, we can beat the traffic."

Dr Runga put down the skull and stewed for a moment as the reporters left. He had hoped for so much more from the reporters, but they couldn't have made it clearer they were not hugely interested in his story. They were already well on the way to leaving by the time he climbed out of the ditch. When he got there, a security guard was already waiting.

"What is it?" He asked, accepting a hand up the last couple of steps on the ladder. The security guard pulled in closer.

"Sir, your appointment has arrived." He told him. Dr Runga looked to him.

"Appointment?" He asked.

"Your assistant took a call this morning?" The security guard reminded him. Dr Runga just shook his head.

"I'm not in the mood." He responded. "Tell them to come back another time..."

"You might want to reconsider." The security guard told him. Dr Runga just stared at him wearily. "They're escorting Prince Phillipe III!"

"The Prince of Zandar?" Dr Runga asked. He started to run after the reporters, just as their van pulled out. "Damn it! Of COURSE this is when they leave! Fine, show me to them!"

By the time he arrived, the Rangers were starting to kill time while they waited for him by helping themselves to his charts and research. He let out a little cough as he arrived.

"This is a restricted area." He reminded them. Shelby looked to the others, wordlessly chastising them for going through his work. They all knew how territorial Kendall could be when it came to her work. While in an idealised world, scientists were meant to care more about the advancement of their fields and freely exchange research, the fact was that everyone was a little bit reluctant to share, especially when it came to credit and potential profit.

"I'm sorry; my colleagues are a little over-eager." She told him. "Hi, I'm Shelby Watkins!"

Dr Runga just stared at her, like he was begging her to explain why that name should mean anything to him.

"We called to arrange an appointment?" She continued to explain. "We're from the Amber Beach Natural History Museum...in the United States?"

"Oh, right...you're the competition." He put down bluntly.

"Competition?" Shelby asked, looking a little surprised. "We were just hoping to ask for some help..."

"So, which of you is leading this expedition?" He asked them. Ivan stepped forward.

"I suppose that would be me." He told him, steeling himself to violate the code he had sworn to all those years ago. "Prince Phillipe III, at your service."

"Your Highness, I'm honoured." Dr Runga responded. "No, who is the lead on the dig?"

The team all looked around each other, before Shelby spoke.

"That would be me." She told him. Dr Runga crossed his arms over his chest as he looked to them.

"You?" He asked her. "No offence, but I find it hard to believe you're old enough to be a PhD."

"I'm not, but Ms Morgan has a lot of faith in me." She responded.

"Morgan...Kendall Morgan?" He asked. Shelby smiled.

"You know her?" She asked him, thinking they might have hit on a familiar name that might make him more receptive to them. He just nodded.

"She worked with me when she was a grad student." He replied, before his smile slipped. "From what I remember, her work was always second rate."

"Second rate?" Koda growled, looking annoyed. Chase grabbed his arm. Everyone knew that insulting Kendall when Koda was in earshot was not a good idea for anyone that wanted to remain healthy.

"We wanted to ask about Plesiosaurs." Shelby told him.

"Well, I suppose it's no secret my work is the pre-eminent work on them." Dr Runga told them. "There have been a lot of fossils located here..."

"Actually, we were hoping you might be able to tell us the kinds of places where they might go...if they were alive?" She pressed on. Dr Runga now looked completely confused.

"You want to look for a LIVING dinosaur?" He asked them. That was when he noticed Albert in the background. "Wait, don't I know you?"

"I don't think..."

"Wait, you're that crackpot that runs those silly tours!" He said as he realised who Albert was. "Some of my team hired you to take them into the mountains! They were stranded out there for days!"

The Rangers all looked at Albert, who seemed to realise what he meant.

"I warned them not to go up so high." Albert told him.

"Andrew got frostbite! He lost two toes!" Dr Runga responded.

"They sent me away when I refused to go any further!" Albert protested. "It's not my fault they weren't equipped!"

"Hang on, I see now." Dr Runga said, looking at the group assembled before him. "You're looking for Tanifa."

He rolled up his sleeve, showing them a tattoo of a Plesiosaur. They all inspected it.

"It was the legend of Tanifa that sparked my fascination of the Plesiosaur in the first place. I always wished I would find it." He told them, before rolling down his sleeve. "But Tanifa is about as real as your 'Prince' there. Security!"

The Rangers quickly found themselves surrounded by security guards. They didn't want to cause any trouble.

"This is most outrageous..."

"I actually WENT to Zandar! I helped find a Pachysephilosaurus there!" He interrupted Ivan. "I still have a dollar bill in my pocket. I know exactly what Prince Phillipe looks like."

"Please, Dr Runga." Shelby implored him. "Just...tell us where we should begin looking and I promise we'll leave without a fuss."

Dr Runga just sighed. He didn't really want to be party to this farse any longer, but he also didn't see the point in having security throw them out if he didn't need to.

"Forget open ocean. It needed places to hide, so it stuck close to shore." He told them. "Check lakes, coastlines, ocean caves...anywhere with a lot of rocky terrain for it to hide in. Now kindly stop wasting my time. Show them out."

"We're going." Tyler snapped as a guard started to shove him along. The Rangers decided not to make any more of a scene than they already had and just left.

"Are you OK?" Tyler asked Shelby, seeing the disappointment in the Pink Ranger's face. She just put away her book and nodded.

"I really thought he might be...nicer." She told him. Tyler put his arm around her as they walked away.

"He's a jerk, forget him." Tyler told him. "We've got a Zord to find."

 **A/N:** Well folks, as many of you know, a certain convention is coming up, and I am once again going to attend. I may just get one more chapter out before then, but not promising anything. If not, don't worry, I'll be back after the event! Hope you enjoy the chapter!


	12. The Plesio Zord

At the Dino Bite Cafe, Alessandra and Allison were working, whittling away the usual crowd there for their morning coffee. The crowd was starting to die down a little, leaving the slightly calmer period between the morning rush and lunch rush when they spent most of their time setting up the ingredient prep for the lunchtime crowd.

"Sorry, but the spiced pumpkin latte is a seasonal item for Halloween, but trust me, the hazelnut is just as good." Allison told a customer as she handed him his order. "Thanks again!"

She smiled as the customer left, seemingly happy with their purchase.

"Of course sir, why of course we have pumpkin flavouring in July!" She said sarcastically as she put the cash in the till. "Come back next week and try the cranberry."

She turned towards the back as she heard some movement there, finding Alessandra setting up trays of ingredients for the prep station. She furrowed her brows seeing her there.

"Alessandra, hasn't your shift finished?" Allison asked her. "I thought you were going to train."

Alessandra looked to her as she started unwrapping the cling film from the trays.

"Brad not here yet." She told her. Allison had to look around, but she couldn't help noticing that she was right. Brad was nowhere in sight. He was scheduled to be in already to allow Alessandra to go. Allison just let out a groan.

"Damn it Brad, where are you?" Allison grumbled. "Look, you don't have to stay, I can..."

"No, I stay." Alessandra told her. "Not leave you alone."

"Alessandra..."

"I promise I be here." Alessandra sighed. "I be here."

Allison felt badly about this. Alessandra had only agreed to do some shifts to help out, but Allison knew that her training was important, especially when she had such a huge opportunity coming up.

"Look, Brad will be along shortly." Allison told her. "Just get your stuff and..."

"I go when Brad come." Alessandra reiterated. Allison just nodded, inwardly thankful that was there to help out. She patted her back as she went to see if she could find out what happened to Brad. She got out her cell phone and dialled, hearing a ring coming from a little way off. She hung up.

"Brad?" She asked, before heading in the direction of the sound. When she got to the door of the employee changing room, she rolled her eyes and shoved open the door, heading inside. When she got there, Brad was wandering around in his boxer shorts, with his phone in his hand. She heard a bleep.

"Damn it, I already have a Slow Poke." He said. Allison just coughed to attract his attention, at which he looked around.

"Am I interrupting?" She asked him. He just shrugged.

"Nothing important." He replied without any hint of irony in his tone. "I was hoping for a Squirtle."

"Did you not hear your phone ring?" She asked him. "Brad, how long have you been in here?"

"I don't know, I got here about..." He was interrupted as Allison used her phone to pull up the record from the clocking in machine.

"Half an hour?" She responded. "You've been signed in for half an hour...and you're not even in your uniform?"

"I'll be ready soon." Brad said, brushing this off as he went back to his locker. "Besides, isn't that Mexican chick still here?"

"She's here to help out! She has places to be! She needs to get to the gym to train for her match!" Allison reminded him. "Alessandra was meant to finish..."

"You mean that fake-ass shit she does? As if it matters if she's a few minutes late." Brad said with a smile. Allison just stood with her hands on her hips. "Besides, I think you'll find that her rota says that she's here until half past for the handover."

"Point number 1, if you really want, I can tell her what you said and tell her to show you exactly how fake it is!" Allison warned him. "Secondly, she's on the rota until half past so that when you come in for your shift, she has half an hour to hand over to you. She's not in until half past so that you can show up when you damn well please because you're so busy chasing Digimon!"

"Pokemon!" He corrected her.

"Like it matters!" She replied, storming out. "And for God's sake put on some pants!"

As she got outside, she found Kendall waiting, sipping a coffee. She pointed towards the door.

"That wasn't what it sounded..."

"Trust me, the door isn't that thick, I heard everything." Kendall assured her. "So, Brad's deciding his shift pattern now?"

"No." Allison responded. Kendall just raised her eyebrows. This wasn't the first time that issues with staff being flexible with their attitude to their hours had come up. "I was dealing with it."

"Which is why he's half an hour late and still getting dressed?" Kendall asked her. Allison couldn't answer that. "You've spoken about this already haven't you?"

"Yes." She muttered. "Look, I know you've given me this job, but I promise I'll..."

"Allison, if you need me to have a word..."

"It's fine, I'll sort this!" Allison reiterated. "I'm sorry, but I don't think sending him to the boss is exactly going to help. He'd just resent it."

"Allison, you've spoken to him before, maybe he clearly doesn't respect your position." Kendall told her. "Maybe a verbal warning on his record would..."

"Ms Morgan, these people are my friends." Allison told her. Kendall just sighed.

"You're worried that will change if you ask him to do the job he's paid to do?" Kendall asked her. "It sounds to me like if he would stop being your friend over that; he really wasn't much of a friend."

She put a hand on Allison's shoulder. She had given her a hard time before, but having heard the conversation, she realised it wasn't necessarily her fault. The only thing that could be thought of as her fault was the fact that she was reluctant to enforce the rules with her friends, and that meant they didn't respect them.

"If you need a hand, you know where I am." Kendall told her, before walking away. Allison just took a deep breath before heading back out to the cafe to let Alessandra know she could finally go.

Back in New Zealand, the Rangers were beginning their search for the Plesio Zord. Their visit to Dr Runga had given them SOME ideas, but it wasn't exactly terribly helpful in narrowing things down. The advice to check 'coastlines, lakes and sea caves' was kind of like describing a particular place as 'a building'. People went to New Zealand specifically because of its scenery. A short way from Auckland, there were several lakes, and literally miles of coast line!

Riley and Chase had split off into a group to patrol the nearby coast. They had managed to find somewhere to rent some mountain bikes to speed up their search. Unfortunately, the closest they came to finding a Dino Zord was some kid who was flying his dragon kite.

"We've got nothing over here on the coast." Riley said through his communicator.

"We've got a couple of K's left to search." Chase added.

"We're seeing nothing up here!" Ivan added, contacting them from the cockpit of the Ptera Zord. He, Albert and Koda had opted to look from the air to cover more ground. Koda held onto the podium for dear life as he pulled a barrel roll.

"Maybe if stop spinning." Koda suggested, feeling a little nauseous. "Please no do that."

"Are you kidding? This is a hoot!" Albert cackled, holding on tightly, laughing with glee. "I never realised these things could be so much fun! I only hope my Zord can fly!"

"Albert, your Zord is based on a sea lizard." Ivan reminded him. "Why would it fly?"

"A man can hope can't he?" Albert asked him. "But in the meantime...can this thing only do barrel rolls? Or can it loop-the-loop?"

"Hold on tight." Ivan told him, bracing himself as he brought the Zord into a dive, despite Koda's spirited protest.

In another area, Tyler and Shelby were checking out a nearby lake. From where they were standing, they could see the Ptera Zord pulling the manoeuvre. Tyler could only laugh, seeing it.

"I guess Ivan's found a way to have some fun with this." He said, pointing to the Zord. "I just hope Koda keeps his lunch this time."

Shelby didn't answer though. She was still disappointed with the end result of the meeting with Dr Runga. She had always admired his work, ever since he was a little girl. Her dad had always been very busy when he was setting up his business, and his way of making up for all that time was to bring home gifts for her. Toys, games, books, but it was the books that were her favourite.

She never really understood the appeal of toys; dolls seemed to be dumb and pointless. She never really understood why any girl would want toys to mimic housework when she could see how much her mother clearly loathed it. Why would she spend the few years she wasn't expected to contribute to the house pretending to do the things she would clearly hate as an adult? She had enjoyed when he brought her sports balls, but when it became clear none of the boys wanted a girl on their team, they too quickly lost their appeal. Games were pointless too. Her mom and dad didn't really have the time to play with her terribly often, and playing Mousetrap or Monopoly against herself seemed way too sad and pathetic to keep her attention.

In books though, she found a world where she could be anywhere and do anything. Originally she liked fiction novels, stories that allowed her to explore worlds where people would go to exotic places and get involved in exciting adventures. Of course her parents didn't just want her head filled with unrealistic stories of people with amazing powers who would go all over the world fighting unspeakable evil and being beloved the world over, as ironic as that turned out to be, and had bought her some educational books as well, just to get her a jump start at school. Then, one day, her dad brought home a book he found at a yard sale for a couple of dollars, and her world changed forever!

Dinosaurs! Even the word was thrilling to her to hear. As soon as she heard the word, she could imagine amazing, magical monsters. The pictures seen in the book, artists' renditions obviously, gave her images of the magical dragons she had read about in stories, but with the notable exception that they were REAL! One day, long before even her grandparents were born, there were real-life dragons walking the Earth! The book was quite advanced for such a young girl, but that just inspired her to do even more reading and research to be able to understand all the amazing facts written about these creatures all found by the legendary Dr Joseph Runga.

As a young girl, seeing his picture on the inside cover of the book had a marked effect on her. He was a handsome man in his youth...hell, he still was from what she had seen. As well as having qualifications from multiple universities, he had a physique like many of the heroes in her stories, and the kind of face that would not look out of place on a movie screen. It was like Indiana Jones, only he was real, and had in fact dug up every single one of the creatures in this book! She managed to find footage online of him giving a lecture on the migration habits of the Triceratops and from that point on, any time she read that book, she could imagine that amazing man in her room, reading to her as she wished her father would take the time to do. She could hear every word in his wonderful, infectious baritone.

"Hey, are you still upset about Dr Runga?" Tyler asked her, attracting her attention. He just nodded. When she heard there was a chance, just a CHANCE of meeting her idol, she had been so excited. She had built up all sorts of expectations of what it would be like. He would tell him how she had found and read pretty much everything he had ever written, even books and articles that were long since out of print. She would talk with him about all the theories and advances he had made in the field over his amazing career. She imagined he would light up to hear about how his words had affected a young life so much, and perhaps even give her some advice on how to follow in his footsteps, preparing for that day when it would be Shelby, and her generation that were the ones making the major discoveries and advancing the knowledge of a world that existed millions of years before the first humans took their first shaky steps on the planet.

"I always dreamed about meeting him, you know?" She said sadly. "Now that I have..."

"You found out he's a jerk." Tyler responded. He had to admit not really knowing or caring much about Dr Runga. His own father, Dr. Neil Nevarro was a legendary figure in the field also, but Tyler only really remembered his father for the adventures he went on. He was no lover of the ivory tower approach to academia, preferring the field anything else. Many of his father's colleagues that young Tyler had met had been rather dull, uninteresting people who seemed to speak more about what COULDN'T be done than what they WOULD do. Things were too expensive, places were too dangerous to go to, there was always talk of sponsors and grants and politics, but it seemed they were always more interested in talking than actually doing anything. Sure, his dad sometimes came home with a few bumps, scrapes and bruises, and he had a few warrants for his arrest in several countries he had left in a hurry with his finds, but he had brought home discoveries that proved or disproved theories that had been debated for decades! How could academia compete with a man that could literally place a fossil in front of you that proved his latest theory?

"I guess, I guess I just built up unrealistic expectations of what he'd be like." Shelby sighed as she thought about it.

"Hey, you might just have caught him at a bad time." Tyler suggested. "You saw all those press. You know how stressed out Ms Morgan gets when she has to deal with the press."

He saw Shelby smiling a little. Kendall was indeed far more comfortable with her computers and machinery and her studies than she was with the media. It was a necessary evil to keep the museum running, but she seemed to always prefer things that she could actually control, like her Ranger tech. The press was something she tended to prefer to just deal with and get over and done with, like ripping off a band aid or paying a credit card bill.

"Just remember, you were disappointed when you met Ms Morgan." Tyler reminded her. "Now, now you're friends."

"I don't really see that happening with Dr Runga." Shelby responded, before changing tone to mock her own fan girl flailing. "I've read your book Dr Runga!' Yeah, me and about 650,000 other people."

"Sadly, sometimes the worst thing that can happen is meeting your idols. Sometimes you realise they're just people like everyone else, and people can be pretty sucky sometimes." He told her as he held her. "Like I said, maybe you'll meet him at a better time and realise he's not such a bad guy. If not, he's a jerk and it's his loss."

"I guess you have a..." Shelby's words tailed off as she saw some movement in the lake nearby. "Tyler, check that out!"

"What is that?" Tyler asked. "Its way too big to be a dolphin or..."

"Tyler, Shelby, are you reading me!" Albert called through his communicator. Tyler was the first to respond. "We're almost right over your position! My Energem is glowing...it's going crazy! I've never seen it act like this! My Zord must be close!"

Just then, the waves finally broke, and an immense form burst through the surface. It was purple and white, and made of a magnificent metal which seemed to move and act like flesh. It had bright, glowing red eyes, and called out with a roar, like it was seeking out something that was missing. Tyler and Shelby lit up seeing it.

"The Plesio Zord!" They chorused together. Shelby got her phone out and started to record video of it as Tyler got back on his communicator. "Guys! Converge on my position! We've found it!"

"In that tiny lake?" Chase asked. "I guess it really must travel by underwater tunnels!"

"Albert! Get down here quick!" Shelby said with glee as she saw the creature looking to the air, bellowing out its call in the direction of the Ptera Zord. "Come and meet your Zord!"

Before anyone could get there though, some flaming rocks suddenly streaked through the air, slamming into the lake around the Plesio Zord in a massive bombardment. The Zord howled as some of the rocks slammed into it.

"NO!" Shelby screamed as she saw this. Both of them turned to see Fury and Meteor standing behind them.

"Keep going! Sledge doesn't want to take any chances with this Zord!" Fury yelled at Meteor. "Destroy it!"

"NO!" Shelby screamed as he fired another barrage hitting the Zord with several searing hot meteors. "Leave it alone!"

The other Rangers arrived, assembling quickly around them. Seeing that the advantage was lost as they morphed, Fury just grabbed Meteor and started running.

"COME! We'll fight them AFTER we take care of the Plesio Zord!" He told Meteor.

"But how?" Meteor asked him. "After that attack, it'll never come back here! How will we find it?"

"I know someone that can help!" Fury assured him. The Rangers broke off their pursuit once they realised that Fury and Meteor were gone, and they weren't likely to come back. As they heard a massive crash from the lake behind them, and turned around, just in time to see the Plesio Zord diving back beneath the waves, disappearing as quickly as it arrived.

"NO! Come back!" Albert called out.

"Man that thing moves fast!" Chase commented. "No wonder it's so hard to find!"

"Did you see how they attacked it?" Riley asked them. "It's not like the Ptera Zord, they weren't trying to catch it, they were trying to destroy it!"

"It looks like Sledge is through with trying to turn our weapons against us after the Ptera Zord incident." Tyler suggested. "I guess he figures if he can't have it, he doesn't want us having it either." They all looked around as Albert fell to his knees, a pained look on his face.

"Albert!" Riley called out to him, quickly coming to his side. "Are you alright?"

"The Plesio Zord...it's in pain!" Albert told them. "I can feel it, my Zord...it's in pain!"

"We need to contact Ms Morgan." Tyler suggested. "If it's hurt, we need to find it before it's too late."


	13. Idol Actions

In the Dino Bite Cafe, the lunch rush was just beginning when Erica arrived. She was clearly in a little bit of a rush, she was kind of on time, at least, she arrived right on the wire as far as her shift was concerned. She was just hanging up her jacket as she saw Allison.

"Hey, Allison, sorry about the hold up." She said apologetically. Allison checked her watch, but said nothing. TECHNICALLY Erica was on time, but it wasn't exactly ideal that she was only just arriving, knowing it would take at least a few minutes for her to get into uniform and be ready for work. "I had to talk to my professor about an assignment..."

"It's fine, really." Allison cut her off, not really wanting to hear about why she was close to being late and leaving her in the lurch. Brad was there...at least, he was in spirit. He had gone to the bathroom, but that was coming close to twenty minutes ago! "When you're ready, could you shred that lettuce and...?"

"I was just about to make myself a coffee." She told Allison. Allison was starting to get a little fed up by this. All she could think about was what Kendall had said to her. Her staff were walking all over her, taking advantage of their friendship with her to benefit themselves. Allison just looked to her. Kendall had insisted that she needed to toughen up with her staff, but she couldn't get round the fact that they were her friends, and just a week before she was doing many of the same things.

"We've got a lot of prep to do." She said, running a shift report on the till to check the morning figures. "Do you mind leaving the coffee a little?"

"Allison, I've been going all day. You know I like a coffee before..."

"If you wait a little, I'll make it myself." Allison sighed. "Please, I could really do with that stuff being finished before we run out. Lunch is already looking busy."

"Sure, fine." She said, looking a bit put out as she started to get her apron ready. She looked down at the pile of ingredients, seeing that the prep had been started, but abandoned half way through. "So, Brad was doing this?"

"He WAS." Allison muttered. "Before you ask, he's in the john...at least; I hope that's where he is."

"Then why didn't...?"

"I'll talk to Brad alright?" Allison interrupted her. "Just...could you do this please? I really could do without another day of getting yelled at."

Erica just feigned a little salute behind Allison's back as she got to work.

Back in New Zealand, Dr Runga was working on his dig site. Many of his crew had headed out for lunch, but he rarely left the dig site for anything other than press events these days. He had always been obsessive about his work, so much so that he generally stayed on site, rather than seeking a hotel room.

He was in the middle of extracting an Oviaptor, a dinosaur that somewhat resembled a Velociraptor, only that seemed to live on a diet of eggs, leading most to believe it was a nest-robber, from the dusty earth that had concealed it for millions of years.

He was somewhat excited to find it, they weren't especially uncommon, though finding largely undamaged specimens was pretty uncommon. As a result of its nest-foraging ways, together with the fact they tended not to travel in large groups meant most ended up meeting a sticky end at the teeth and claws of much larger species. This one though, as a result of a largely unblemished skeleton, with only a few minor fractures that seemed almost completely healed meaning none of them were fatal wounds, meant this one had most likely died of natural causes. He had to admire in a way its spirit of survival.

He wasn't too bothered about the fact he was here on his own, in fact he had sent his team away to be alone. He had called the press for this discovery, playing up the rarity of it as a find. It had been some time since he had been in a major publication, and with the exception of college podcasts and radio stations, he was rarely on screen or on the air waves anymore. It was something of a sore point for him. He loved his work, but the one thing that was always true was that his work didn't come cheap. Tools cost money. People expected to be paid for their time. Even volunteers had expenses that needed to be covered, people needed to eat. College and museum grants covered some of it, but even when they were given the rights to anything that was found, a lot of expenses still had to be covered, which was where private investors came in. They were always looking for something in return, and mostly what they got was publicity for funding good works. Of course, in order to GET publicity, that meant someone in the media needed to care enough to actually cover what they were doing. Of course, the fact that it meant his face had graced more than a few magazines, newspapers and books was just the icing on the cake.

He pulled out a claw, and documented it in his notes, before starting to dust it down. He let out a sigh as a shadow cast over him, blocking his light.

"This isn't a good time." He stated gruffly, without even looking up at whoever had interrupted his train of thought. He was horrified as he heard a loud crash, seeing the skull of the precious dinosaur shattering against a rock right next to him. He turned towards whoever had destroyed such a valuable artefact, only to find himself staring straight up at a monster. He fell to his backside, starting to try and scramble away, finding himself cornered against the side of the trench.

"Is NOW a better time?" Fury asked him, leaping down into the trench, right by Dr Runga. He grabbed the terrified man, hauling him to his feet. He showed him some magazine articles related to his finds. "I hear you're the man to talk to about dinosaurs around here."

"You want dinosaurs?" Dr Runga managed to stammer out in a panic. He pointed to some crates that were packed up, ready for shipping. "There are several right there, ready to go..."

"BONES?" Fury yelled, throwing Dr Runga to the ground harshly. "I don't want BONES! I want a REAL one!"

"You...you want a real, live dinosaur?" Dr Runga asked. "I'm afraid you're about sixty million years too late. With the exception of Alligators and Crocodiles there haven't been any species one could call a dinosaur in millions of years!"

"But there IS a real dinosaur out there." Fury responded, grabbing Dr Runga's sleeve and yanking it up, showing his tattoo. "I believe there are already people out there looking for it."

"The Tanifa hunters?" He asked. "They're just chasing fairy tales! That Albert Smith that's guiding them couldn't find his arse with a good Sherpa and both hands tied behind his back."

"But they HAVE found it, and they found it with your help." Fury told him. Dr Runga could hardly believe what he was hearing. He wanted to deny it, but...Fury himself seemed to be an impossible thing. Was it possible he had written off these kids too easily? Had he let the greatest find, not just in palaeontology, but in any field of science of all time slip through his fingers?

"They...they found it?" He asked, a thought crossing his mind. "Wait, if it exists...this would be the greatest find of all time! Never mind magazines, this could mean television, documentaries...I could be the first Palaeontologist in history to win a Nobel Prize!"

"Yes, you find that dinosaur, and I can destroy it!" Fury growled. Dr Runga just looked to him, completely horrified to hear him say this.

"NO! You can't destroy it!" Dr Runga protested passionately. In all of his life, like all in his field, since he was young, his fondest dream was that somehow, some way, he could actually meet a real dinosaur! Even more than how much it would do for his career to actually bring a real dinosaur into an enclosure for the world to see, his heart raced to imagine having an actual dinosaur that he could see and touch. To be able to study its actual habits as opposed to just make educated guesses as to its life would be every dream come true. This creature though seemed to want to slaughter it, like a poacher desperate for some ivory or a rare pelt. "It's the only one of its kind in existence...you just can't!"

Fury grabbed him, and lifted Dr Runga off the ground with one hand.

"Then perhaps I will destroy YOU!" He suggested. Dr Runga was terrified. He could already feel his resolve being tested, staring at the evil looking sword in Fury's other hand, but the part of him that was desperate to do anything to protect even the possibility that one of his beloved Plesiosaurs could still exist just wouldn't allow him to do anything that would put it at risk.

"Do what you will to me!" Dr Runga told him defiantly. "I will have no part in the destruction of a species."

"Then perhaps my friend here can destroy all your work." Fury suggested, directing Dr Runga's attention to Meteor. The monster threw one of his meteorite attacks at a tent full of tools, obliterating it in a firestorm of destruction. Fury dumped Dr Runga on the ground. "Do we understand each other now?"

"I...I..." Dr Runga stammered, trying to think of something. "You say those Tanifa hunters found it..."

"The Rangers have indeed found it." Fury told him. Dr Runga looked to him a little curiously.

"Rangers?" He asked. Fury just sneered in response.

"The Power Rangers." He responded. Dr Runga looked a little aghast. He had heard of Power Rangers. While the television show didn't air in New Zealand, as a result of the invasions, everyone in the world had seen and heard enough news stories to know exactly what Power Rangers were. He was a little surprised to hear that the Rangers were here, and that they were looking for the Plesiosaur, but a thought occurred to him as he heard this.

"If they've found it...if I find out where they found it, perhaps I can figure out where it goes!" Dr Runga suggested. Fury looked a little interested to hear this. "No one knows more about the Plesiosaurus' habits than I do. By finding out where it's been confirmed to be seen, I could figure out how it travels, where it's likely to nest..."

"You better hope you can!" Fury told him, hauling the terrified Dr Runga to his feet and dusting him off. "Now, go, find them and find the information you need. Once you have, report to me."

He tossed Dr Runga a communicator and shoved him roughly away. Dr Runga headed off, hoping that his local knowledge would bear fruit. He had heard that the Rangers had found it nearby, so he was sure they wouldn't stray too far. As he put the communicator away, he was already forming an idea.

In another part of the city, the Rangers were sitting at a picnic table by a snack van, decompressing over their search. They had found the Plesio Zord; they were within reaching distance of it. Unfortunately, just before they could reunite it with its Energem, Fury and Meteor had attacked. They weren't surprised about that, what DID surprise them however was the viciousness of the attack, and that it was targeted against the Plesio Zord itself.

As they had some lunch, they were on the communicator to Kendall back in the states. She was watching the footage Shelby had taken on her phone, taking note on the condition of the Zord. She seemed to be just as concerned as the others about this turn of events.

"Last time Fury found a Zord before us, he turned it against us." Tyler reminded them. "But the way he attacked it, the way that Meteor guy bombarded it, it's like he was trying to destroy it."

"When he used the Ptera Zord, he didn't have the Gold Energem." Ivan reminded them. "Of course, we didn't either. He knows that we have the Purple Energem now."

"Yeah, maybe he knows that with the Purple Energem we could turn the Plesio Zord to our side if he tried to use it." Riley suggested it. "I don't think he's taking any chances here. Maybe he just wants to make sure we don't get to use it."

"As much as I hate to say it, it's a pretty solid plan." Shelby responded, taking a sip of her drink. "Now I just hope we can find it before they do."

"The sound it made, it sounded like it was in pain, or sick or something." Chase responded. Albert just nodded in agreement.

"I felt it, thanks to this." Albert told them, showing them the Purple Energem. "It was calling out to me, calling out for this."

"The Plesio Zord's been separated from its Energem too long." Kendall interjected. "It's not Albert's fault, he didn't know any better, but all of you, when you got your Energems, you were close to your Zords, and you stayed close."

"I didn't know I had to find my Zord." Albert told them honestly. "I kept getting the visions, but I didn't know what they meant."

"It's alright Albert, you didn't know any better." Tyler assured him. "No one blames you for that."

"The problem is, without the power of the Energem to power it; the Zord's not able to heal as it should." Kendall told them. "The Plesio Zord needs to be reunited with its Energem, the longer they're apart, the more vulnerable it is."

"It doesn't look like Fury's going to let up any time soon." Chase stated.

"Dr Runga's advice helped the last time..."

"Shelby, will you get over Dr Runga?" Chase grumbled. "Saying 'it's in a lake or something' isn't really that helpful."

"He may as well have said 'it's somewhere in New Zealand'." Riley added. Shelby just looked defensive.

"Look, I know he was a bit of a jerk, but...he's the leading expert on the Plesiosaur!"

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time he was only out for himself." Kendall snorted. They all looked to the communicator, a little shocked. Ms Morgan was in no danger of being a diplomat, and certainly didn't mince words when she was unhappy with someone, but that sounded almost personal.

"WHOA!" Chase stated. "Where did THAT come from?"

"He's...he's got a bit of a reputation." Kendall replied. "Anyway, I'll see what I can find out from here, but you need to find that Zord."

"Easier said than done." Tyler replied. "You can count on us."

As they signed off, Koda reached for his drink to wash down his latest bite, only to hear the distinctive slurping of an empty cup. The others all noticed the same thing, only to turn and look at Shelby. She looked a little sheepish.

"Really?" Chase asked. "Again?"

Shelby just got up, getting her wallet out, realising she had done it again.

"I'll go get you some more." She responded, heading for the snack truck. Chase just threw his cup into a nearby trash can.

"I have no idea where she puts it all." He said to Tyler. "That girl must have the bladder of a camel."

As she got to the snack cart, the guy behind the counter noticed her waving him over.

"Could I get another seven lemonades please?" She asked. However, a hand reached across, handing over some dollars.

"Make that eight." Dr Runga told him, paying for the drinks. As the man went to prepare the drinks, Shelby just looked to him.

"Dr Runga!" She said, a little surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for a little lunch, and when I saw you, I was hoping to make some amends." He told her, indicating to her to put her wallet away. "Please, I insist."

"Dr Runga, you don't need to..."

"I'm afraid you didn't really catch me at my best." Dr Runga told her as he took a deep breath. "I was hoping for a lot more coverage from the press. Funding for my research is a little scarce at the moment."

"It is?" She asked. He just nodded.

"Something you will learn about this field is that academic grants only go so far." Dr Runga told her. "As much as I'd love to spend all day digging, it doesn't come cheap. The press is a tiresome, but necessary evil."

"I...I didn't think of that." Shelby responded. "I'm sorry..."

"You have nothing to apologise for, some of us just aren't lucky enough to have Anton Mercer's bottomless pockets behind us." Dr Runga told her. "I was disappointed I wasn't getting the coverage I was looking for and so I lashed out. That was unfair, and I'm sorry about that."

"It's really alright. We know you were busy." Shelby told him, remembering what Tyler had said. She was disappointed meeting her idol, but hearing what she had now, she remembered Tyler suggesting that perhaps they'd just caught him at a bad time. If he was having issues funding his dig, then she could understand him not having much patience for people looking for a quick chat about hypothetical dinosaur locations. She'd seen some of the balance sheets Kendall had to deal with on some of their digs, and she knew that there was a hell of a lot more to it than the cost of a pick and a shovel!

"I'm just sorry I treated a fan so poorly. I'm all about encouraging those seeking to break into the field." He told her. "I have to say, that book you had, I haven't seen one in years! It's been out of print for..."

"It's an original print!" Shelby rushed out. "Dad found it at a yard sale, I was SOOOOO excited..."

"Well, how about I sign it for you?" He asked her. Shelby just squealed in delight, dumping her phone and wallet on the counter.

"I'll just get it!" She rushed out, running back to the picnic table. Dr Runga checked to make sure she was gone, and the cashier was busy making the lemonade, and picked up Shelby's phone, accessing it. He checked recent activity and found a video she had made. He could hardly believe his eyes as he saw the Plesiosaur bursting through the waves. Fury was telling the truth, there really was a real live Plesiosaur!

He checked once more to make sure no one was watching, before sending the video to himself. This would make his career! Just to be on the safe side, he deleted the video from Shelby's phone. Even if the Rangers did drive Fury off, the last thing he needed was for them to expose the existence of a real dinosaur before he could. He knew that Fury was out to destroy it, but knowing who this group of kids were, he could only think of the glory to come. He could almost see the press clamouring around him right now. As he finished, placing the phone back down, Shelby arrived with the book, beaming brightly.

"You have NO idea how long I've been waiting for this!" She gushed. Dr Runga pulled out a pen, and opened the cover, signing just inside it.

"Anything for a fan." He responded as he handed it back to her with a bright smile. If he was lucky, Fury and the Rangers would take care of each other; leaving him on his one-way ticket to fame he could only dream of!


	14. The Wonderful Dr Runga

**A/N:** Sorry, I neglected to put a message in the last chapter about my return from the con. I had a great time, and it was a great break. Feeling recharged, I hope to get some more writing done on this. Thank you to my long-term reviewers who have been so patient.

In the Dino Bite Cafe, the lunch rush was just starting to die down, and Allison was getting ready to turn over to the late shift. She was beginning to feel the effects of the full-day shifts, if it wasn't for her determination to help her friends, she would have probably asked for the demotion back to her old job. Ms Morgan had assured her they were going to do something about the staffing situation, but right now, no one had any time to start interviewing staff.

Her attention was grabbed as she saw Erica starting to take off her apron and collecting her things. She just let out a little cough.

"Erica, did you finish the grill?" She asked. Erica just looked to her a little sheepishly.

"Sorry, I...I put it on handover for Claire." She told her. "I really want to get going, if I leave now I can get the half past train instead of the quarter to..."

"Erica, Claire isn't here yet!" Allison reminded her. Erica just stared at her for a moment, trying to think of an answer. It was a long-held convention that the shifts overlapped by half an hour, so that when the shift taking over arrived, the previous shift could hand over anything that they needed to know. Of course, this generally only took ten minutes, and once that was done, there was no reason for the off-going shift to be there. However, that only worked if the on-coming shift was actually THERE. The one thing that everyone was meant to do was at least wait until the following shift was there to relieve them. Claire walked in at that point, carrying a Subway bag in one hand, and a large coffee in the other. Erica just pointed to her.

"There, she's here." She responded. "Now, can I go...?"

"You haven't handed over anything!" Allison protested.

"I left a note!" Erica protested. Just then, Brad compounded the issue by walking out in his street clothes, his ear-buds in, playing his music without a care in the world. Allison checked the clock, seeing that there was still three quarters of an hour left on his shift. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. She grabbed a dish towel and launched it at the back of his head, earning an annoyed look from him.

"Hey! What gives?" He said indignantly. Allison just stormed over to the door, closing and locking it, and turning the sign to closed.

"The three of you, sit down, we need to talk!" Allison told them. They all looked a little put out as they sat down. Brad rolled his eyes.

"Well THAT didn't take long." He muttered. Allison just glared at him.

"What?" She asked him.

"Someone gets a promotion; all of a sudden they become 'the man' and start throwing their weight around." He snorted. Allison just stood with her hands on her waist.

"Really? Do you really want to go there?" She demanded. "Alright, I'm new to this supervisor thing, so there's been a lot of slack here, but things are not working out..."

"Oh come on, will you lighten up?" He demanded.

"Yeah, we all come in for our shifts!" Erica replied. "It's not like everyone else didn't run out on this place!"

"Yes, you're all still here, and we're grateful for that, but that doesn't mean you can act how you like." Allison began. She could see the way they were looking at her, and could remember staring at so many supervisors herself the same way. There was always an issue of thinking that supervisors just threw their weight around for the sake of a power trip, and the attitude was generally that they weren't really doing anything TOO important. It wasn't like she was running the whole museum, or even the whole cafe! Ultimately Kendall was the one that signed the pay checks each month. She doubted talking about rules and regulations would win them to her way of thinking, so she tried another tack. She took a deep breath. "I know you're all busy, but we need to rely on each other, because it isn't fair to others when things fall through the cracks."

"Look, we've been..."

"Brad, you're walking out nearly an hour early...and you were over half an hour late to begin with!" Allison reminded him. "The other day, Alessandra, who was kind enough to take shifts to help out ended up leaving way after her time because of you! Does that sound fair?"

She looked to them as they shifted a little uneasily. They could all admit to being a little laissez-faire with their attitude to their shift patterns. They had all figured that with Allison being the supervisor they could get away with a lot more.

"Erica, you were about to leave before Claire came, and you haven't done the grill. Were you expecting me to do it?" Allison asked. Erica just looked a little apologetic hearing this. Allison could see that they were all a little quiet about this. She was reaching them. She looked to them all, softening her expression a little.

"Alright, we don't need to go to any official levels, I think we can avoid that, but we need to set a few ground rules...and STICK to them to be fair to each other." Allison told them. "When your shift starts at ten, that's when I expect you to be here, and by that, I mean ten isn't when you come in and get changed!"

She glanced to Brad at this point.

"If you want to get changed, you arrive ten minutes early." She told them, looking to Erica and Claire. "If you want a coffee or a snack, arrive ten minutes early. But when your shift starts, when I say I expect you here, I mean in position, in your uniform ready to start. Does that sound fair?"

They all nodded gently.

"Also, when your shift is finishing, you stay until the handover is done with the previous shift." Allison told them. "If everyone is in on time, it shouldn't take too long, and then you can go. I know at the end of a shift, you just want to go home. Hell, I feel the same way, so if that's how you feel, remember that's how the guy you're taking over from feels. If we all do that, I think things should be fine. Are we agreed?"

Erica and Claire looked to each other and nodded. They could both realise they had taken liberties with Allison, and were keenly aware that she must have covered some of their slack a couple of times.

"I'm sorry." Erica responded. "I know Uni can be hard on the schedule, but...I guess I can be a little better at doing my fair share."

"Me too." Claire added, starting to put away her dinner. Allison stopped her.

"It's fine for today, but just...bear it in mind for future." Allison told her. She looked to Brad, who was grabbing his bag.

"Are we done here?" He asked her. She just looked to him.

"Your shift isn't over..."

"By the time I go and get changed, it'll be time to change back again." He responded. Allison just gestured to the door.

"Fine, again, we'll begin tomorrow; just...remember what we said." Allison told him. "And can you please catch Digimon on your own time?"

"Pokemon!" He corrected her.

"LIKE IT MATTERS!" Allison called after him as he and Erica left. She went to the register to run the takings, finding Kendall standing there. She nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Whoa, you have been spending WAY too much time around Keeper." She commented.

"Sorry, I was just getting some more coffee." She told her. "The sooner the others get back and I can get some decent sleep the better."

"You...heard all that didn't you?" Allison asked her. Kendall just nodded. "Look, I just wanted..."

"There's no need to explain yourself." Kendall told her. "In fact, I was actually going to commend you on a good job."

"Really?" Allison asked her. Kendall just nodded as she took another sip. "I thought you wanted me to..."

"There's no need to crack the whip if a few well-chosen words can do the job without making people resent you." Kendall responded.

"I just hope this is the end of things." Allison told her. Kendall just patted her on the shoulder.

"Time will tell on that." She replied. Just then, Kendall's phone bleeped. She checked it, seeing a news story had been flagged.

"What is it?" Allison asked as Kendall's mood noticeably darkened.

"A certain leopard hasn't changed his spots it seems." Kendall responded as she strode purposefully towards the lab. Allison just went back to the task in hand, but couldn't help smiling a little. Maybe there was a way to balance responsibility and good relations with the other staff after all.

In New Zealand, Dr Runga was working on his cell phone, sitting in the dig site when Fury and Meteor arrived. For their safety, and so that no one would see them meeting, he had told his team to go home. As a notorious task master, his team were only too eager to take advantage of one of the few times he had the generosity to let them go home early. He had only just finished closing down the phone and locking it when Fury snatched the phone from him.

"What were you doing?" Fury demanded, checking the phone, but only finding his screen saver, a picture of himself from one of his previous digs. Dr Runga just looked to him.

"I was alerting the media to my find." He said nervously, hoping Fury didn't take his behaviour as suspicious. Fury just threw the phone back at him, clearly not caring enough to check what he was doing. Who exactly was he going to call that Fury couldn't deal with?

"Now, about that information I asked you to find!" Fury responded. Dr Runga took one of his maps, and marked a couple of locations on it.

"The girl had footage of the Plesiosaur." Dr Runga told him. "Based on its size, I'd say that these locations are the most likely hiding spots. These are the locations with caves large enough to act as a suitable home for it."

Fury snatched the map from him.

"You better hope we find it." Fury told him. "If not, we'll be back!"

As they walked away, Dr Runga breathed a sigh of relief.

"If all goes well, hopefully not." He responded.

Meanwhile, in a cave network a little way off, the Rangers were searching through the dark for any signs of the Plesio Zord. For such a large machine, it was proving incredibly elusive, likely the reason that it had gone more or less undiscovered after Albert had bonded to his Energem. Chase and Koda hopped down from some rocks, heading towards where Shelby was checking something on her cell phone.

"There's no sign of it in the caves back there." Chase told them. Albert, Riley and Ivan arrived from another branch of the caves.

"There doesn't appear to be anything down that way either." He told them, looking to Albert. "You said there were others?"

"There are plenty of cave networks, but there are only about four that would be large enough to comfortably act as a home for the Plesio Zord." He assured them. "But...I don't feel anything here, so...it's probably not here."

"The Plesio Zord, or something like it has been seen multiple times in this area." Shelby told them, showing them a web site on her phone. "There have been over 40 'Tanifa' sightings reported in the last month around here, even if I do rule out all the ones with no pictures or video."

"Sadly it is a common legend." Albert told them. "But I'm certain not all of them can be fake."

Just then, their communicators sounded. Shelby pulled out her communicator, finding Kendall on the other end.

"Ken...uh...Ms Morgan, we..."

"There's been a Plesiosaur sighting very near you; it's lit up on all the news networks." Kendall told them.

"Yeah, we were looking at websites..."

"No, it's hit all the major news." Kendall told them, pulling up the story. "This isn't one of those fuzzy, out of focus shots. It's very rare that anyone gets a picture this clear as you can see."

The Rangers all stared at the image in complete shock. Ordinarily a hallmark of urban legend sightings like UFOs or mythical creatures was that the videos or pictures that were presented as 'evidence' were usually of very poor quality. Long distance shots, shots in poor lighting, out of focus, blurry images that were attributed to shots taken quickly were a running theme since it would easily hide details that would expose an obvious fake. Others were, if anything wrong in the opposite way, being remarkably detailed, but were taken of creatures or UFOs that were hardly moving, like they were actively posing for a picture. This shot though was an action shot, but only appeared to be taken from about fifty feet at most away, and in broad daylight! There, in the midst of waves was the unmistakable form of the Plesio Zord.

"Wait, that beach looks familiar." Tyler commented. Shelby though had already recognised the shot. She was checking her phone, finding a recent outgoing message. "Is that..."

"It's from MY video!" Shelby yelled, looking completely furious with this invasion of her privacy.

"It's..." Kendall started to say, only for Shelby to interrupt her.

"It's Dr Runga!" She roared, kicking a loose rock deep into the cave. "He stole my video!"

"Wait, Dr Runga?" Tyler asked her. "How...?"

"He was at the snack truck! He signed my book for me!" Shelby admitted. "He must have sent himself the video when I went to get a pen...oh, and he deleted the video from my phone too!"

"What a dick!" Tyler exclaimed, breaking his usual cheerful demeanour. He knew how excited Shelby was about the prospect of meeting her idol, and when their first meeting had been something of a letdown, he was the one that convinced her that she should give him the benefit of the doubt, that maybe she had just caught him on an off-day. Clearly when he had met up with her later, he had used Shelby's admiration to gain her trust.

"I'm sorry, I should have warned you. I'm afraid he's got something of a history of that kind of behaviour." Kendall told them, taking off her glasses, rubbing her eyes.

"He said you worked together." Riley recalled. "I thought I picked up on something."

"I was working on one of his digs as a grad student." Kendall told them. "I was young, he had a great reputation...he saw some of the work I was doing and offered to co-author a paper with me for publication. Together we did a paper on the migration and mating habits of the Plesiosaur."

"Wait, I remember that paper!" Shelby stated, thinking about all the work she had written. "But...I didn't know...wait, he never co-authored..."

"I WAS hoping to admit it as a PhD thesis." Kendall told them with a sigh. "However, when I read a journal, I found he'd already published it. Unfortunately, he'd 'neglected' to put my name on it."

"That scoundrel!" Ivan interjected.

"Dr Runga hurt Kendall?" Koda asked. "I hurt Dr Runga!"

"No, it...it was years ago." Kendall told him. "But after that, I got caught up in my internship with Anton and I never got around to admitting a thesis so..."

"That's why you're MS Morgan." Chase surmised. Kendall just nodded.

"I'm sorry Shelby. I don't like talking about it." Kendall told her apologetically. "I'm sorry you got burned."

"Well, now we have another problem." Albert said, bringing their attention to him. "It says here he's calling a press conference. That means dozens of people will be coming to see the real life dinosaur!"

"Not to mention all the people watching on the web and TV." Riley added.

"OK, I might be an attention seeker, but that's a little more attention than even I like." Chase concluded. "Maybe we can convince people it's a hoax."

"That would probably be for the best." Kendall agreed.

"Hey, Shelby!" Tyler called, seeing that Shelby was already storming away. "Where are you going?"

"You heard Ms Morgan! We need to convince everyone this footage is a fraud!" Shelby told them. "While I'm at it, I can give the 'wonderful' Dr Runga a piece of my mind!"

"I can't say I blame her." Ivan snorted. "It would do the varlet some good to be put in his place."

"Yeah, Shelby isn't exactly above violence when she's pissed." Chase reminded him. "And that girl hits hard."

"Yeah...maybe we should catch her up." Tyler agreed. "SHELBY! Wait up!"


	15. Dr Runga's Plot

After training, Alessandra arrived in an arena over in Panorama. Her biggest show to date was only a little way off, and she was intent on ensuring that she would be up to it. Although she had recovered from her shoulder injury, and she had been working out to get ready, she had not yet had a proper match in months.

The next big show in Amber Beach was going to be a huge opportunity for her. One of the biggest names on the independent circuit, Ricochet, a man who if the chatter was to be believed had already signed for a major company and was only running out his last few independent bookings had asked specifically for Alessandra as his opponent in his last match for Carl. It was a big honour to be asked for, especially for a farewell match, but she was also well aware that if he was going to a big company, then all eyes would be on his match, including scouts for other companies. She needed to ensure that would be the performance of a lifetime, and after so long out, she was a little nervous about it all. Carl had been good enough to fix her up in a warm-up match to ensure she was up to the task.

She was in a little bit of a hurry as she arrived; Carl had been kind enough to give her a ride to the arena. She managed to find the booker as he was overseeing the set-up. A few of the performers were hanging around, discussing the spots they were planning to do. She went to the booker, attracting his attention.

"Alessandra, always a pleasure." He greeted her, hugging her. "How's the shoulder?"

"I feel better." She told him.

"Trust me, when I saw that shit Eddie pulled, I was livid. That useless prick thinks way too highly of himself." He told her. "You know where the changing rooms are."

"Who my opponent?" He asked him. The booker looked to her and smiled.

"Anna Konda." He told her. Alessandra was delighted to hear this. Anna was a relatively young worker like her, but one she had worked with a few times. She was a gifted technical wrestler, with a good reputation for working safely, and being very easy to work with. Alessandra got on well with Anna, and was sure that the decision to pair them up was as much to put her mind at ease as it was because they had already had some memorable matches together. "She should be in the changing rooms."

Alessandra headed into the back, looking for somewhere quiet to get changed. When she got there, finding a seat, she was quickly joined and greeted by Anna. She grabbed Alessandra in an enthusiastic hug, squeezing her tightly.

"How's my favourite Luchador?" She asked her. Alessandra just smiled.

"I feel good." She told her. Anna sat around in front of her. She was a red-head, with pronounced freckles, and a mid-western accent. She looked to Alessandra as she started to unpack her bag.

"So, you're sending off Ricochet?" She asked. Alessandra just nodded. "Well, how are you feeling, really?"

"I nervous. Been long time." Alessandra responded honestly. "Wish Koda here."

"Koda? You mean that guy that tossed Eddie into the fourth row?" She asked, seeing the expression on Alessandra's face as she said this. She smiled. "Girl, you have some taste, I'll give you that!"

Alessandra seemed a little less happy to hear that, but she had known Anna long enough to know that she didn't mean anything by it. She was a flirt, but she did abide by a strict 'look but don't touch' policy when she knew someone was attached. She was, however, pleased to hear that Alessandra had found someone that made her so happy. Alessandra was just starting to get dressed when she took her hand.

"Listen, if you're up for it, I've got an idea for something really special as a finish." She told her. Anna just nodded, pulling in closer, listening intently.

Back in New Zealand, Dr Runga was setting up a display at his dig site. He had already managed to get a stage set up, with a large-screen television, a backing set complete with potted plants, and a massive sign declaring that a real-life dinosaur had been discovered. He was going to great lengths to ensure that everything was perfect. Namely that his own name and face was front and centre.

"Check that works. I don't want to take any chances." He told one of his assistants, indicating to the screen. Another was carrying a huge portrait of Dr Runga. "You, make sure you put that right up at the centre, right where the cameras are pointing!"

"DR RUNGA!" He heard a loud, very familiar voice calling out. He just sighed and rolled his eyes. He knew that he could expect this sooner or later. It was the biggest story in the area, there was no way Shelby wouldn't have heard of it. He looked to the reporters who were already starting to assemble.

"I just need to deal with this real quick." He told them. He sent them away as he turned to greet Shelby, who looked thoroughly livid. He was expecting that though, he knew what he had done was more than a little shady. "Shelby, are you here to see the unveiling?"

"You stole my video!" Shelby yelled at him, struggling to contain herself. Dr Runga was looking at her, and addressing her like nothing had happened. He didn't even seem to acknowledge that he had done anything wrong. "You can't release that video! You need to tell everyone that it's fake, that you've made a mistake!"

"Shelby, don't you realise what's happening here today? Never mind find of the century...this could be the most significant find in all of science!" He told her. "I've been doing this for decades! All those books I've written, those hundreds of discoveries...none of them mean anything compared to this!"

He gestured to the sign, declaring the discovery of a real-life dinosaur. Shelby didn't look to be in an understanding mood though. The way her right hand kept tightening up into a fist, Dr Runga was trying to decide if he needed to duck.

"But you've just revealed this to the world!" Shelby responded. "This isn't finding some fossils; this is a real, living thing! If you release that video, there will be literally hundreds of hunters swarming around here. It'll never have any peace!"

"Listen, I know I should have asked, but if you stay, I'll make sure you get credit." He told her. He started to move a little closer. "Just think, thanks to this, you can ditch that little museum. I could get you a scholarship; take you on as an apprentice! This...this could take your career worldwide!"

Shelby could hardly believe what he was saying. She knew he was trying to bribe her, trying to buy her off, but it was a very appealing proposal. She had always dreamed of going into the field, but so far she couldn't even afford the tuition for a basic degree, much less a doctorate. Offering not only a full scholarship, but also the endorsement of someone with his name and reputation was something that would propel her career by years! It was literally everything that she ever wished for being offered to her on a plate. He drew in a little closer.

"Come, I'll even let you stand on the stage with me." He told her. "Imagine, not even a student, and being credited with one of the greatest finds in history! You'll be famous."

"Credit?" She asked him. Her face slipped though, he didn't realise his mistake. "Like how you credited Ms Morgan for her work?"

"I don't know what she told you..."

"She told me everything about that paper." Shelby told him.

"Well...any academic institution owns the rights to the work published by anyone under their employ or any of their students." He told her. "It's a pretty standard..."

"You know what? Forget it." She told him. "You know, when I was a little girl, you inspired me with your books and your journals. You made me want this more than anything I've ever wanted anything in my life. Now...now I find out that all you care about is fame."

"Hey, none of this pays for itself!" Dr Runga told her flatly. "Do you have any idea how much a full scale dig costs? Do you think we can fund that by washing cars or collecting cans? You're only as good as your press, and that's only as good as your last work. With this, I could keep the team running for years!"

"You know, my boyfriend told me that I might have got you wrong. He told me I needed to give you a chance. Now, I see he was right. You're not as bad as I thought. You're a whole lot worse." Shelby said, looking at her one-time idol in disgust. "Your name may be Dr Runga, but you are NOT the man that inspired me. Not anymore."

With that, she turned and walked back to her friends, who seemed to be breathing a sigh of relief that Shelby hadn't done anything that would involve the local authorities. She was still clearly angry, but she was at least able to let it go and get back to what was important.

"What happened?" Tyler asked her.

"He's showing the video, no matter what happens." Shelby told them. "We need to find the Plesio Zord, and fast!"

As they were leaving, her phone bleeped. She just pulled out her phone, checking the message.

"What's that?" Chase asked her.

"Konua Caves?" She asked, looking to Albert. He lit up immediately.

"They're not far from here!" He told them. "They're plenty large enough to hide the Plesio Zord! It was one of the sites I wanted us to check!"

"Ms Morgan must have narrowed it down!" Tyler surmised. Chase looked a little puzzled though by this.

"Why would she send a text?" He asked. "We have our communicators."

"Chase, who else knows we're out here?" Riley asked him. "Come on, which way?"

"North!" Albert responded, running off. As they were running though, Ivan only got a couple of paces before he noticed Koda was nowhere to be seen. He turned to see him running the wrong way.

"KODA!" He called out. The Blue Ranger skidded to a halt, turning to see him. "We're in New Zealand. North is this way!"

Koda nodded in understanding, before running after him.

"Don't worry; I too am surprised the Earth is not flat." He assured Koda. The Blue Ranger just nodded.

"Oh yeah, why they change that?" He asked as they ran to catch up with their friends.

Back at the arena, Alessandra's match was well underway. The crowd was overjoyed to see Alessandra back and doing what she did best. The two were in the middle of the ring, with Anna in control. She had been working over the arm, using the fact that most of the internet-savvy fans were aware El Jaguar was only just returning from a shoulder injury. The crowd was throwing a lot of heat her way for exploiting the injury so blatantly as she held her in a tight arm-lock. Anna was milking the crowd's reaction, seeming to take pleasure in teasing releasing the hold, before dragging her back. She twisted Alessandra's arm behind her as she hit a backdrop in the ring, before attempting a pin. It didn't get a three, but she was quick to re-apply the arm-lock.

"Are you ready for it?" Anna whispered to her. Alessandra just nodded to indicate she was ready for the finish they had planned. Shoving her off, shoulder-first into the turnbuckle, Anna rushed in, grabbing her around the waist, before rolling backwards. When they regained their feet, she was about to hit a German Suplex, a move that she had won many matches with. However, this was where the plan went into effect.

Releasing the grip, Alessandra performed a full, back somersault over her, leaving her off-balance. The crowd was ecstatic to see the finisher reversed, but Alessandra wasn't finished. She leapt up, ending up sitting on Anna's shoulders, both of them facing forwards. She touched her head, indicating that she was beginning the move, before both tucked for a dual forward-roll, a move called a Victory Roll, as it ended in a pinning position. Alessandra hooked her legs as she logged the pin for the 3 count, ending the bout.

The crowd erupted! Anna rolled out of the ring, leaving Alessandra to accept the cheers of the crowd alone, but gave her a wink to congratulate her on a great first match back. Alessandra couldn't have wished for a better return match after her injury. Anna was always a generous worker, willing to put over whoever she was working with, and tonight had been no exception. She knew how important it was for Alessandra's confidence before her big match that she put on a strong showing, and judging by the crowd, she needn't have worried, she was ready! She only wished Koda could have been there to see it.

She slipped out of the ring, taking a moment to greet a few fans, while the next bout was being announced. After high-fiving a young girl, she started to walk down the aisle towards the back. She bumped into one of them as she headed down the aisle the opposite way. She looked up, seeing that it was Eddie and Vinnie, the Kolossal Koallition.

"Hey, clear the way!" Vinnie warned her, shoving her aside. Alessandra didn't say anything, deciding not to waste her time with them. She knew they were idiots, that much was obvious. However, clearly Eddie had taken offence.

"Hey, you got a problem? You got nothing to say?" He snapped at her, grabbing her and pulling her back. "You no speak the English?"

Alessandra just swiped his hand off her, and proceeded to walk away. Vinnie decided to get involved at this point.

"Hey, we're talking to you bitch!" He yelled at her, grabbing her by the mask. Alessandra pulled and fought to get loose, slipping on the floor as she lost her footing. As she landed on the floor, she looked up to see Vinnie staring at her, holding something in his hand. She reached up, clutching at her head, realising to her horror what it was. Her mask! It had come loose during the match, the laces had come undone. When she fell, Vinnie had been holding it, and the mask had come straight off.

Alessandra was painfully aware of what was going on as camera flashes went off. Covering up her face in a futile effort, she ran into the back, where Anna was waiting, having seen the whole thing. She grabbed Alessandra, holding her tightly as the Luchador broke down in tears.

Back in New Zealand, Fury and Meteor were on a beach, looking around the rocks. Fury had the map in his hand, checking it for landmarks.

"Are you sure Dr Runga hasn't sent us on a wild goose chase?" Meteor asked him. Fury just looked to him in response.

"He won't have if he knows what's good for him!" Fury responded matter-of-factly. "Now, hurry up and check that cave, it's the last one on the map he marked up for us."

"The last four were a waste of time." Meteor reminded him. "They didn't even seem damp, never mind..."

"Just shut up and get on with it!" Fury yelled at him.

"HEY!" Tyler called out as the Rangers arrived.

"What the hell?" Riley asked as they saw their adversaries. They knew that they too were looking for the Plesio Zord, but it was still a surprise to run into them so soon. They were hoping it would take them a while to catch up to them on the search. "How did he...?"

"Guys...my Energem!" Albert said, reaching for his necklace as it started glowing. "The Plesio Zord, it's close! It must be in the cave!"

"We can't let them get in there! Albert, try and get the Energem to the Plesio Zord! We'll hold off these bozos." Tyler called out. "Unleash the Power!"

The Rangers all morphed, before rushing to the attack. Fury called up some Viviks and responded in kind. Very quickly, he found himself locking blades with Ivan. The two strained against each other as they tried to secure footing on the loose sands.

"It looks like we get to finish what I started 800 years ago!" Fury said as he tried to overpower Ivan. The Gold Ranger stared him down as he adjusted his grip on the Ptera Sabre.

"This time it will be different Fury." He responded, before breaking the stalemate, leaping away as he sent a blast Fury's way, which he blocked. A little way off, Tyler was trying to clear a path for Albert to get to the caves.

"How the hell did they get here before us?" Tyler screamed as he smashed one of the Viviks into sludge with his Tyranno Fist. Albert was right by him, taking down some Viviks with his Dino Sabre.

"Something tells me they had a little help!" Albert said, pointing to the rocks. Tyler could see Dr Runga, clear as day, carrying a video camera, leaping across the rocks, heading for the cave. His blood started to boil as he realised this was all way too much of a coincidence. Dr Runga had sent the video from Shelby's phone to his own; he would have had the return number on his call register. He must have sent the message to check out that cave, sending the Rangers straight for Fury, who was looking at a map when they arrived. He had to put his anger aside though as Meteor noticed him too, and started to head for the cave as well.

"Albert, hurry up and get after him before he gets himself AND the Plesio Zord incinerated!" Tyler called out. The Purple Ranger quickened his pace, taking down Viviks as he sprinted after them.


	16. Plesio Power

Dr Runga leapt across rocks, scrambling deep into the cave as he tried to get away from the battle. He had set the wheels in motion for the Power Rangers and the monsters that threatened his discovery against each other. He could still hear the blasts and the clashing of weapons echoing throughout the cave as he went.

He could hardly believe it when the monsters arrived at his dig site, and Fury had told him that there was a real-live dinosaur only feet away from his dig site. He'd heard all the usual urban legends and rumours, and he had noticed a recent upsurge in the number of claims that 'Tanifa' had been sighted, but until they had shown up, he believed it to be no more credible than the number of Elvis sightings that were reported every day of the week.

The footage he had stolen from Shelby had eliminated any and all doubt he had in his mind; these children had indeed found a real live dinosaur! The eight year old boy in him that had always dreamed of meeting one of these beautiful, fantastic creatures was overcome with the thought that he could. There were museums all over the world where one could see all the fossils and bones they wanted, but if his also contained an aquarium where a real living dinosaur could be viewed, people would come from all over the world and pay any price he asked! It would be like comparing Disney World to an amusement park with a tarot reader and a single clown. He had always dreamed of being on the front cover of magazines and on television, with this, he would be able to choose which ones he wanted to, and he would be clearing a space in his trophy cabinet for a Nobel prize!

He stumbled a little, and almost fell, struggling to clutch the camera to prevent it being damaged. Although he already had Shelby's footage, he couldn't resist going to see for himself, despite the risk. Fury had told the truth about the dinosaur, he saw no reason to believe that he would lie to him about them being Rangers. He knew that Power Rangers fought monsters, it was the reason they existed in the first place! Setting the Rangers against them, he hoped, would clear the way for him to get his prize. He didn't know what interest the Rangers had in a dinosaur, but whatever it was, this would be the moment of his career.

He climbed over some more rocks, coming around a stalagmite, only to hear a low rumble. He smiled as he saw something a little way off in the darkness, something that did not look like any rock formations he had ever seen. His heart raced as he prepared himself for the moment that he had dreamed of since he was a little boy. Turning on the light mounted on the video camera, he started it recording and raised it up. The beam of light confirmed that what he was seeing was no rock formation. Dr Runga furrowed his brows, seeing the way the light glinted off the surface as he panned across the creature. It was a deep purple, but it didn't look like any kind of fish or reptile skin as he knew it. It seemed more like metal. The creature stirred, and started to look towards him, slowly and sluggishly, opening a single, deep, red eye.

"What in the world?" He whispered, seeing the creature. He didn't know what it was, but it certainly didn't seem like any interpretation of a dinosaur he had ever come across, it didn't even seem like a living creature, its form seemed almost more like...metal? He heard some sounds behind him, and turned to see some of the monsters coming towards him.

"Come on! It's this way!" Meteor snarled at some Viviks, gesturing them forward. He could see Dr Runga up ahead, and realised what must have happened. Dr Runga had been the one to tell them where to look. "YOU! You set us up! We warned you what would happen!"

He launched a meteor straight for Dr Runga. He was only just saved as Albert managed to interject himself between him and the Meteor, smashing it back with his Dino Sabre. Meteor flew into the wall as Viviks started to surround them. Albert fought bravely, trying to clear his way to the Plesio Zord.

"I hope that footage is worth it doctor!" Albert scolded him as he took down some of his opponents. Dr Runga could understand his anger, but right now he was more concerned with the danger that now was coming his way. He looked between Albert and the Plesio Zord.

"This...this isn't a Plesiosaur is it?" He asked, noting the way it looked to Albert. It started to stir, like it was trying to move, but it seemed very sluggish, and lacking in energy. It let out a low moan, like it was in pain.

"It's my Zord!" Albert snapped at him. "It's low on energy, it's vulnerable, and now, thanks to you, you've brought these things right to it!"

Dr Runga couldn't help feeling guilty. It was true, in his desperation to be credited with the discovery of a dinosaur, he had brought the monster, the one determined to destroy it, right to it. He had underestimated the power of this monster; he had thought the Rangers would have driven it off by now.

He looked over to where Albert was fighting, struggling to deal with his enemies. Meteor launched a blast straight for the Plesio Zord, which slammed into it. The Zord let out a horrifying howl of pain as he did so.

"NO!" Albert yelled at him, running for Meteor to stop the assault. Dr Runga watched him fight, trying to overpower Meteor, while the Viviks headed for the Zord, attacking it.

"Leave it alone!" Dr Runga screamed, picking up a rock, and throwing it at one of the creatures. The Viviks turned their attention towards him, but by now Dr Runga was determined not to allow them to harm the Zord any further. It might not be a real dinosaur, but it was close enough for him. Albert couldn't help noticing his efforts.

"It's low on Energy; I need to get to it!" Albert told him. "It needs to be reunited with its Energem."

"Energem?" Dr Runga asked. He smashed the video camera across a vivik's face as he struggled to keep them away. "It needs a gem?"

"I have it!" Albert told him. Dr Runga suddenly got an idea.

"Throw it here!" He told Albert. The Purple Ranger could hardly believe his ears. Dr Runga had caused all of this, and now he wanted him to trust him with an Energem?

"Are you...?"

"I'm closer, and I'm not pinned down!" Dr Runga reminded him. "Please, I want to help!"

Albert was reluctant to trust him, but as he got slammed into the cave floor by Meteor, he realised he didn't really have much of a choice. He took out his Energem and threw it over to Dr Runga.

Joseph caught the Energem as he threw the remains of the camera at another vivik, taking it down. He saw the viviks standing between him and the Plesio Zord, and smiled. It had been a long time since university, but seeing them before him, all he could see was Wellington City's defence. He ran straight for them, slamming straight into the first and sending it flying several feet with a dismissive shoulder tackle. He broke out to the side, and fended off a few careless lunges. As he got to the last Vivik, he dove over the top of its tackle, rolling on the ground as he got to the Plesio Zord, throwing the Energem into its waiting mouth. It started to glow, and rose up, its eyes changing from red to green. It started to move, causing the whole cavern to shake. Meteor and the viviks all started to back away slowly.

"That was quite a run!" Albert complimented Dr Runga as the Plesio Zord caught a couple of viviks in its jaws, throwing them against the roof of the cavern, where they turned to sludge on impact. "A try for sure!"

"Auckland University Rugby Team." Dr Runga said proudly as they stood aside, letting the Plesio Zord start to get some room as its strength returned. "My coach wanted me to try out for the All Blacks."

They watched as the last of the viviks disappeared after a power blast from the Zord. Meteor turned tail and ran screaming from the cave. Albert looked to Dr Runga as he grabbed him.

"It may not be a Plesiosaur, but would you...?"

"No, this is clearly your honour." Dr Runga told him. Albert leapt inside as the Plesio Zord powered up its engines, starting to rise off the cave floor. Once inside the cockpit, Albert stood at the controls, placing his weapon into the console.

"Now then, what do you say we show these young ones what a Zord can really do?" He asked. "Plesio Zord, power up!"

Outside the cave, the Rangers and Fury were still fighting when they all heard a roar of engines. They all turned to the cave in time to see Meteor running for his life, bowling over viviks and even Fury in a display that would put many rugby players to shame.

They all stood aside as the Plesio Zord came into view, and flew overhead, firing blasts straight for Meteor. They all assembled, watching as it exacted its revenge for the earlier attack.

"Whoa, that thing looks PISSED!" Riley commented as Dr Runga arrived with them to watch it.

"I'm sorry, but I had to help after everything I've done." Dr Runga told them. "It isn't a dinosaur, but it is..."

"Awesome?" Tyler asked. Dr Runga just looked to them as it obliterated Meteor and nodded in agreement.

"Since when could Plesiosaurs fly?" Chase asked.

"Yes!" He agreed. Fury was only just starting to get up, spitting out some sand he'd swallowed as Meteor shoved him to escape. He got onto his communicator.

"Lord Sledge, the Rangers have the Plesio Zord!" He told him. "Fire the Magna Beam! Perhaps that overgrown ember can be of some use!"

"OK, that looks like our cue." Tyler declared as he saw Meteor starting to grow. "Dr Runga, get to a safe..."

"No need Tyler, my friend here is still looking for a little payback!" Albert assured them over the communicator. "Here, let me take him back where he belongs!"

The Plesio Zord snatched Meteor up in its jaws, before turning sharply upwards, and blasting straight into orbit. The Rangers could only watch on in amazement.

"So...Albert's Zord can go into space now?" Chase asked. "Is anyone else thinking we kind of got hosed on the hardware?" They all just de-morphed, staring at him as he looked back. "I'm just sayin', I mean...his Zord goes into freaking space!"

Meteor struggled in vain as he was carried out of the atmosphere, into orbit above the Earth. The creature was still stunned and disorientated, and he was keen to finish him off. Kendall appeared on his viewing screen.

"Ms Morgan?" He asked.

"Albert, you've done an incredible job, but I want to tell you how to get the best from your Zord." She told him. "I've got a read-out from my scans here; your Zord has a Megazord mode."

"Megazord?" He asked, looking around. "You are full of surprises, aren't you old girl?"

"Now, listen to me Albert, you need to synchronise completely with your Zord for this to work." She told him. "If you..."

"I think I can already hear her talking to me!" Albert said with a smile. "Come on; let's show them what the old-timers can do!"

The Plesio Zord started to transform, taking on its Megazord mode just as Meteor finally started to regain composure. He realised his position, and started to open fire, opting to go out swinging as opposed to just whimpering away, waiting for the end.

"That's a girl!" Albert yelled as it rocketed towards the creature, attacking with its arm. Kendall kept an eye on the schematics, keeping track of the battle.

"Albert, the Plesio Zord is now at full power, it's ready for its ultimate attack!" She told him.

"Let's send him back where he came from!" Albert called out. "Plesio Zord Rocket Punch!"

With a final anguished scream, Meteor was completely obliterated as the rocket punch hit. Albert cackled with delight as he realised that the battle was over.

"That was amazing Albert!" Tyler congratulated him. "I'll even let you say it!"

"Alright then!" Albert answered, striking a pose. "Monster extinct!"

"Albert, you were just amazing! Truly remarkable!" Ivan chipped in.

"Yeah, you totally did it for the kiwi boys." Chase added.

"I agree, you have more than shown that the Purple Energem was wise to choose you." Kendall agreed. "I can't wait to meet you when you finally get back here."

"Yes, well...that's just the thing." Albert told them as he took a deep breath. "I think there's something we really need to talk about."

Back on Sledge's ship, Fury and Wrench arrived in a drop pod, having utterly failed in their mission. Sledge came towards them, clearly livid. Poisandra and Curio were close behind him. Poisandra seemed positively giddy about their failure, knowing that Sledge was close to having exhausted all his patience with Fury.

"Master Sledge, please have mercy...!" Fury begged him.

"Save your breath! You have failed me enough times!" Sledge warned him. Poisandra lit up hearing this and started bouncing on the spot.

"Oh, please tell me we're going to incinerate him this time!" She giggled. Sledge just looked to his two officers hatefully.

"Believe me, the only thing you accomplished down there that's any use to us is building that re-animation device!" Sledge said, ignoring his fiancée's assertion as his viviks started to unload a ship that carried the parts for the device. "If it wasn't for that, I'd have left you down there for the Rangers to finish off!"

"Master Sledge, I promise my next scheme..."

"I've had ENOUGH of your schemes!" Sledge cut him off savagely. "From now on, I form my own plans."

He grabbed Wrench, hauling him towards the disassembled re-animator.

"Just thank your lucky stars that you're still useful to me." He said menacingly. "Now, get this back to working order and tell me when it's ready."

Back in New Zealand, the Rangers had returned to their hotel with Dr Runga and Albert. They were all gathered around in Ivan's suite, preparing to head out, but there were still a few things to tie up. Albert looked to the Rangers, who all seemed a little morose and somewhat disappointed.

"Are you sure about this?" Tyler asked him. "I know you didn't ask for this, none of us did, and I know you were a bit hesitant about it all to begin with, but, are you sure you want to do this?" Albert just nodded his head. Despite the fact there had been a few question marks over Albert as a Ranger at first, he had more than proven himself, and the Rangers were becoming used to having him around. They were starting to look forward to their adventures with him.

"I've been thinking about it for a while." He told them.

"But you're a great Ranger!" Shelby protested. "You can't just give up!"

"New Zealand is my home. I can't leave it." Albert insisted.

"Well, I'm from New Zealand too." Chase chipped in. "I miss my family like crazy, but..."

"But you're a young man; you have your whole life ahead of you." Albert told him. "You have a career in the states, you have friends, I understand you even have a special someone waiting for you. You might make a life out there, but me...my life is here."

"So, we can't talk you out of it?" Riley asked, looking a little hopeful. He was one of the ones that was most vocal about his concerns over Albert. He didn't want to think that Albert would be considering leaving because of him. He had more than proven himself in his eyes.

"I'm afraid my mind is made up." Albert told them, pulling out his Energem. "Being a Ranger is the most incredible adventure I've ever been on. I'm confident the Purple Energem will find you a suitable replacement."

Keeper appeared in the room at that point, using his power to transport himself from the States. The Rangers and Dr Runga all watched as he approached Albert.

"You were a fine Ranger, and the decision you have made is a brave and difficult one." Keeper told him. "Your task was to keep the Purple Energem safe. Now, you have completed that task. Albert, hold your Energem to the head of my staff."

Albert did as he was told. Keeper's staff started to glow as the Energem passed through it. As it got to the other side, Keeper took it, and handed it to Tyler.

"Your bond to the Energem is now severed. We are grateful to you for your service and wish you well in your life." Keeper told him. "You may no longer be a Ranger, but you will always be one of us."

"We're really going to miss you Albert." Shelby said as she hugged him tightly. "Don't go becoming boring or anything."

"I doubt I'll have time." Albert responded. "My new partner here is sure to keep me busy."

"Partner?" Tyler asked. Dr Runga just nodded, before looking to Shelby.

"Shelby, what I did, to you, to Kendall, to all of you...I truly am sorry." He told them. "When I look to you, and I see the kind of person I once was. I was never happier than just being out there, digging up fossils, taking lectures, but somewhere along the way, I got caught up in all the business and...I lost sight of what was really important."

He looked to the Rangers as he continued.

"What I did all those years ago, it was unforgivable. I could never make it right now, but for what it's worth, tell Kendall I am sorry." He told them. "I hadn't been published in a long time, and I was so desperate to get my name back out there, I didn't think about the hurt I would cause. I only hope that in time she can forgive what I did."

"I wouldn't hold my breath for that." Chase said under his breath. Dr Runga just smiled.

"I suppose I deserve that." He responded. "I know it doesn't begin to cover what I owe you, but I have taken care of that footage. I printed a full retraction, and said it was a fake. I've managed to convince the faculty at my university that I was taken in by a fake."

"I can't imagine that went over well." Tyler said, looking a little pained expression crossing his face. He imagined that after pitching it, he would be risking his career and his reputation to reveal the footage to be a fake now.

"My reputation and position allowed me to keep my career." Dr Runga told them. "But I insisted that if someone of my standing and reputation could be taken in so completely by what was obviously a metal model, then perhaps it would be best if I took a sabbatical."

"Sabbatical?" Riley asked him. "You've been suspended?"

"No, not quite, but I figured it was best for both sides if I take a little break." Dr Runga told them. "Maybe a little time just doing some digging, not having to deal with all the red tape and the politics will help me learn to love what I do again. Not to mention I am perfectly confident I have the best guide I could ask for."

"That really sounds like a great adventure." Tyler said, shaking Dr Runga's hand. "Good luck with that."

"Good luck on your adventure too." Dr Runga responded. "You can rest assured, your secret is safe with us."

"So, now that we have everything, I say it is time we took our leave." Ivan said as they headed for the door. "As fine as this room is, we have responsibilities back home."

"So, the only question is, which ride do we take?" Tyler asked, looking to the Purple Energem.

"I call Plesio!" Shelby chimed in as they departed their hotel room for the last time.


	17. The Purple Problem

The Rangers all came into the museum, dumping their luggage as they arrived. Most of the visitors had already left, and there were only a few staff finishing up ahead of closing time. Even though their Zords flew much faster than commercial flights, New Zealand was a long way away, and so they were all exhausted as they arrived. Allison was the first to come to greet them, seeing them arrive in the door from the cafe. She ran across, throwing herself into Chase's arms, almost knocking him off balance.

"Wow, now THAT is the way to be welcomed home!" Chase responded with a laugh as he held her.

"You guys are back! How was New Zealand?" She asked them.

"It was definitely tiring. We could use a vacation to recover from it." Ivan told her. "Though it was a productive trip."

"It's so good to see you guys back. You have NO idea what kind of stuff has been going on since you left!" She rushed out. They all just laughed a little.

"Allison, we've been gone about a week. What could possibly have changed?" Shelby asked her. Just then, Kendall came past, seeing that they had arrived.

"Good, you're back. We've got a lot to talk about." Kendall told them.

"Ken...uh...Ms Morgan, we only just got back." Shelby responded with a tired groan. "Can this wait until tomorrow? I still have to hear the lecture from my dad before bed."

"Believe me, there is a LOT we need to catch up on." Kendall told them. "Allison, can you send Claire home and then come downstairs? The rest of you, come with me."

"I guess there's no rest for the wicked." Riley muttered as they followed Kendall, leaving their luggage exactly where it was.

"I prefer the term 'virtuous' personally." Ivan chipped in as they headed for the Dino Lab, leaving their luggage exactly where they had dropped it, knowing that it would not be disturbed in the slightest.

Up on Sledge's ship, Wrench was busy assembling his re-animation machine in his lab. Fury was still seething over their defeat in New Zealand. It was yet another blow to his credibility in the eyes of his partner he could ill afford.

The Rangers were becoming more and more tiresome the longer this campaign went on. It seemed like every time they made a move, these children somehow seemed to find a way to counter it. Whenever they tried a brute force attack, the Rangers could match them in power, often finding some new level of energy that they didn't know they had before. Any time Wrench attempted to utilise his technology, somehow the blonde one would find a way to counteract his codes or create a device that could counteract his own. Even intellect seemed to fall foul. Puzzler had managed to trap them for a while, but the Green Ranger had ended up beating him at his own game.

Something else troubled him as well. He didn't say it out loud, but he had noticed that his own power was waning. While his kind were a long-lived species, they were not immortal. The same things that affected others also affected his kind. It would happen a lot later than it would for others, but the fact was that he would age, and that came with the same pitfalls for him as it did for everyone else.

On Sledge's ship, they existed in a stasis state of sorts. Time literally had no meaning. It was how Sledge had been in business so long. It was how all the prisoners on his ship were still alive even millennia after their natural life spans. It was just one thing that added to the horror of ending up as a prisoner of Sledge. Once they were captured, prisoners knew it was no mere threat that they were there forever. Not even old age would bring them release. The problem Fury had was that unlike Sledge, Poisandra, even Wrench...what little of him was still actually biological, for over 65 million years, he had been on Earth. He had aged, and it was beginning to tell on him.

He had been alright stranded on Earth, at least for the first few million years. Food was plentiful, and while it didn't compare to many of the planets he had visited, the climate was perfectly comfortable. He had hoped that the power of the Energems would sustain him, but the Earth was so much larger than he ever suspected, and he arrived long before the age of computers or global positioning. Even written maps were millions of years away. His natural longevity managed to carry him until the humans infected the Earth, and started to build things that he recognised as progression towards the technology he was used to, but as time went by, he started to notice that he would get just a little slower than he used to be, that things would seem just a little heavier than he was used to. It was only as he started getting pains in his hands and elbows, even when he hadn't been doing anything that he realised the problem, the one issue he couldn't do anything about. He was getting old.

The Egyptians were the most useful ones he found in his time. They feared him when they saw him, but unlike others that either fled or tried to fight him, for all the good that ever did, they seemed to fall to their knees and worship him! He figured out later that they worshipped cats, and figured his appearance had worked coincidentally in his favour. They unwittingly gave him another idea though, he witnessed sacrifices, and he realised that while their belief in them was largely superstition, they gave him an idea. It took some time, but eventually he figured out how to take the life energy of another as his own. It was nowhere near as effective as an Energem would be, but it allowed him to postpone his suffering for a time.

He released his grip on his sword, resting it against a work bench and began to relax his hand. He still didn't really understand how Ivan had survived so long inside him, but he knew it had to have something to do with his Energem. Even separated from it, the limited power Ivan had absorbed had lasted for centuries longer than any other life force, and Ivan still had the strength to struggle and cause him problems. He had no doubt in his mind that getting an Energem would return him to the power his allies believed he still had. Until then, all he could do was spend time in the ship, use his power sparingly, and hope beyond hope that no one knew that his power was declining. He didn't need his old power, just the perception of that power.

"Are you finished with that yet?" Fury asked Wrench. The cyborg just glared at him. "That thing is the only reason Sledge isn't putting us in solitary!"

"These things take time you know, it's not like I'm setting up a waffle iron!" Wrench said sarcastically in response.

"Well hurry up and get on with it!" Fury snapped at him. "The sooner you finish this, the sooner Sledge can let us in on his plans for this thing!"

"Are you finished yet Wrench?" Sledge demanded as he arrived, carrying a case. Wrench just cowered under Sledge's gaze.

"I...I...It will take at least..."

"I expect it to be ready in half an hour!" Sledge told him. "You will need all the time you can get to condition the prisoner to be under our control."

Sledge put the case down on the work bench.

"I expect to hear that the clone is alive and ready to begin breaking within an hour." He told them as he turned and left the lab. "Now if you'll excuse me, my fiancée has just discovered wedding registry websites, and I have to find out what she expects, since I doubt there'll be many guests once we're finished with this planet."

As he left, Fury couldn't help looking to the case, and opened it, looking inside. There was the DNA sample that they would need, along with some restraints, and a very familiar-looking device.

"Is that...?" Wrench asked. Fury just nodded. "You've got to be kidding!"

Back at the museum, the Rangers were assembled around the central table in the Dino Lab. Allison came in, carrying a tray of food for them all. She figured that after such a long journey, they could probably all use something while they had this meeting. As she sat by Chase, she noticed that Koda hadn't yet launched himself at the tray and grabbed as many Bronto Burgers as he could fit in his hands. She initially worried that he might be ill, but seeing the look on his face, he seemed more shell-shocked than anything else.

"Alessandra...know?" He asked Kendall. While they were away, Alessandra had indeed stumbled upon their secret. When she discovered the Dino Lab, Kendall and Allison had felt like there was really nothing they could do other than tell her.

"She found the Dino Lab. We really didn't have much of a choice." Allison told them, handing around drinks. Kendall took Koda's hand gently, looking to him.

"We told her about the Ranger thing, but that's all." Kendall told him. "We figured that it was your place to tell her everything else."

"So she not know I cave man?" Koda asked her. The others just looked to him, seeing he was clearly worried about the prospect of telling his girlfriend what he really was. While Koda was a homo sapien, and every bit as capable of learning to adjust to life in this time as anyone else, they all knew that there were certain difficulties he would always have. He didn't exactly have a birth certificate or social security number, which would limit his options severely. While he was slowly but surely starting to come around to figuring out the idea of how money worked, even if he did occasionally misjudge the value of things like the time he paid $20.00 for a chocolate bar, it wasn't like he could apply for a credit card, or a mortgage. There wasn't much point in teaching him to drive since he would never be able to provide documents for a driving license, much less register a car in his name.

More than that, he already knew that people saw the way he looked and heard the way he talked and would make judgements about him. As much as his friends loved him, he always worried what others would think, how much worse it would be if they knew that at one time the height of technology to him was fire.

"Koda, you are one of the kindest, most generous people I've ever known. You would give the shirt off your back if someone asked for it." Shelby said in a reassuring way. "That girl is so lucky to have you."

"Yeah man, there's nothing to worry about." Chase told him.

"What if she..." Koda started to say, looking noticeably upset. Kendall just leaned in closer.

"Koda, Alessandra loves you." Kendall assured him. "I seriously doubt that's going to change."

"Alessandra say that?" Koda asked her. Kendall just nodded, at which Koda smiled a little. He was still clearly a little worried about talking to her about the truth about himself, but he was happy to hear what she had said.

"I think it's pretty clear man." Chase agreed. "You know, to anyone with a couple of working brain cells."

"You'll be fine." Shelby assured him. "We can be there if you want."

"No, I talk to her." Koda told them. "Thank you."

"On a connected note, the T-Rex slide is now permanently sealed!" Kendall said, looking to the others. "Since we've already had two accidental security breaches through there, I thought it was about time we dealt with that."

"So...how do we...?" Chase started to say, only to earn himself a glare from Kendall. It was largely his fault they needed to use the T-Rex slide in the first place. They did have a key lock on the elevator, but Chase kept misplacing his keys.

"I've installed a biometric security system in the elevator." She informed them. "Unless you somehow manage to misplace your fingers and your retinas, I think even you should be able to get access Chase."

"That's probably a good idea." Riley conceded. "Once is an accident, twice is a concern."

"Next, I'd like to call out a well-deserved thank you to our newest supervisor, Allison." Kendall said, patting the Australian on the shoulder.

"You're a supervisor?" Tyler asked, as Allison showed them her name badge and nodded. "That's awesome!"

"You have no idea how much help it's been letting her take care of things in the cafe." Kendall told them.

"That's really kind of you to say." Allison replied. "There's been a few bumps..."

"I'd have been surprised if there weren't." Kendall assured her. "Allison has very kindly taken a lot of the responsibilities from the cafe, meaning I can now concentrate more on our...extra-curricular work."

"Hey, how does it feel knowing your girlfriend out-ranks you?" Riley teased Chase. He just chuckled as he pulled Allison closer.

"As long as we remain equal when we punch out at the end of the day, I'll be fine." He responded, kissing her softly.

"Now, I know I've been promising it for a while, but finally we're going to have the first round of interviews for more staff." She told them. "Hopefully that should help free us all up a little more, but I really do have to thank all of you for everything you've done."

"Hey, it's all in the name of the cause right?" Tyler asked her. Kendall then looked to the middle of the table, where the Purple Energem was sitting.

"Now, we do have one last item of business to discuss." She said, bringing their attention to it. The Rangers all looked to it, thinking about what they had in their possession. "I sent you to New Zealand to find the Purple Energem. Now you've done that, it's created some more issues for us."

"None of us knew it had bonded to anyone." Tyler chipped in, carrying on the train of thought. "An unbonded Energem is a dangerous thing, but when it was bonded, we had a Ranger to deal with."

"Not to mention a pretty sick Zord!" Shelby added.

"I know there were some reservations when we found out about Albert, but I know I wasn't the only one that was hoping once we knew we would be bringing back an Energem, a Ranger AND a Zord." Ivan told them. "Though I believe it was a certain Mr Meatloaf that said 'Two out of three ain't bad'."

The other Rangers just stared at him, causing Ivan to shrug his shoulders.

"What, am I not allowed to be knowledgeable of modern popular music?" He asked them. "I believe I found it in Chase's I-pod under 'classics'."

"That aside, we have an Energem and a Zord, and that's pretty good going." Tyler conceded. Kendall took a deep breath as she prepared for the next part.

"Although it does leave us with one problem." She said as she reached out for the Energem.

"NO!" They all called out, leaping forward to stop her. With the exception of anyone bound to one of its brothers, they knew that the Energems had a habit of repelling anyone they didn't see fit, and doing so quite aggressively. When Kendall had tried to bond to the Pink Energem, she had ended up in a hospital. However, as Kendall seized it, they noticed to their astonishment that nothing happened. In their experience, Unbonded Energems did one of two things when someone touched them. Either they would bond to them, in which case they could fully expect a flash of light, and for Kendall to get a series of flashbacks relating to the spirit of the dinosaur housed within, or they could expect to be peeling her off the floor. This time though, it seemed to do neither.

"How...how did you...?" Chase asked, looking a little concerned by this. "How did you know that would work?"

"I wasn't actually positive, until now, but Keeper did warn me this could happen." Kendall told them. "Albert gave up his power willingly; the connection wasn't severed by his destruction. As a result, the Energem's natural defences haven't returned."

"So anyone can handle that Energem?" Tyler asked her. "Not just one of us with an Energem?"

"It appears so." Kendall told them sadly. "And that makes it incredibly dangerous. That power undefended could fall into the wrong hands."

"So, what are our options?" Chase asked.

"To re-activate the Energem's defences, the last bearer would have to be destroyed, but I think we can all agree that isn't an option." Kendall explained, clarifying that she was in no way considering the idea of killing Albert just to make the Energem safe. "So the only other option we've got is to find someone else to bond with it."

"Well THAT's going to be easy." Riley said sarcastically, throwing his hands up in the air. "We still don't know what these things look for in the people they bond with."

"We know they look for heroics." Tyler said as he looked around the room. "I guess the one positive to come out of what's happening to Amber Beach is there's no shortage of opportunity for people to perform acts of heroism."

"It is true; there is no lack of opportunity for heroics in this city." Ivan agreed. "Though one act of heroism does not a hero make. Things were the same in my time, and if there's one thing I've learned, it is that anyone can do a heroic deed when they have no alternative. A true hero is one who would consistently perform those acts."

"It also presents us with a problem." Riley added. "Like you said, there's no shortage of heroics in this city. We can't be everywhere at once. How do we even find someone that has done something heroic?"

"Maybe we can set up an accident." Chase suggested, causing everyone to stare at him. "You know, pretend someone's in danger. Like...run a car at one of us. When someone saves them, we try the Energem and see if it bonds."

"You want to risk killing one of us on purpose just to see if someone saves us?" Shelby asked sceptically. Chase could see that everyone else was having much the same thoughts.

"Well...we'd be there for the act at least." He said defensively. Tyler just shook his head.

"Let's call that plan B shall we?" He replied. As he looked back to Kendall, she was staring at the Energem in her hand. He could see she was deep in thought about something.

"A hero...?" Kendall mused, looking to the Energem. She suddenly got a thought, and a smile crossed her face and she started gathering her things. "I have an idea!"

"You do?" Chase asked. "Then tell us!"

"You guys hold down the fort here for a couple of days!" She told them.

"Wait, what?" Allison called out. "What about the interviews?"

"I have an interview guide on the desk in my office." Kendall told her. "Just ask the questions on it and use your best judgement."

"What?" Allison called out. "Isn't that above my pay grade?"

"I trust you!" Kendall called out as she got to the elevator, pressing the button to head back up to the main floor. She looked to the Energem once more and smiled. She was disappointed it hadn't chosen her, but with each passing Energem, she was becoming more and more able to accept that her path was clearly not as a Ranger. As much as she wanted the power, she had the next best thing. If she was right, they would soon have their new Purple Ranger!

Fin.

 **A/N:** Well, that's it for this story, but don't worry, the next one is beginning very soon. I hope you enjoyed this. Coming soon, the Rangers will search for their Purple Ranger!


End file.
